[Paula Zahn, Cnn Anchor:] And good evening, everybody. Glad to have you with us. In this hour, we're going to go in depth of all of the top stories of the day, starting with a crisis in one of the most dangerous parts of the world, the Middle East. It's been a day of rockets, bombs, and repeated threats. Israeli bombers and warships hit Beirut, Lebanon, and, for the first time ever, rockets fired from Lebanese territory and hit the Israeli city of Haifa. And, tonight, there is every sign that things could get even worse. Late reports say Israeli jets have hit a Lebanese highway connecting Beirut with Damascus, Syria. And Iran's president is now threatening Israel, saying a strike against Syria will be considered an attack on the whole Islamic world, and bring a very fierce and swift response. We have CNN crews throughout the region tonight. John Vause is standing by in Haifa. But we also begin with Alessio Vinci, who joins us from the Lebanese capital tonight Alessio.
[Alessio Vinci, Cnn Rome Bureau Chief:] Hello. Paula. It's been a long day of escalating violence here in Lebanon, a day during which many people here felt that they may be on the brink of yet another long conflict.
[Vinci:] Israel promised a painful response, and it hit Lebanon where it hurts the most, the tourism industry, at the height of the summer season. All three runways of Beirut's international airport have been damaged. All flights in and out were canceled, incoming passengers diverted to Cyprus. And after nightfall Thursday, gunboats hit a fuel depot at the airport again, while Israeli planes dropped leaflets urging people to stay away from Hezbollah buildings. The Israeli navy is also imposing a blockade, preventing vital fuel supplies from reaching the capital's port. Residents fear a prolonged blockade and return to the bad old days, when Beirut was reduced to rubble by sectarian violence.
[Unidentified Male:] The situation is very bad. We're expecting everything now is coming bad.
[Unidentified Female:] I wasn't scared, but, when I saw everyone going to the gas stations, I thought maybe I should, too.
[Vinci:] In southern Lebanon, closer to Hezbollah's main area of operations, people stockpiled essential supplies. Lebanese security sources say Israeli artillery and airstrikes have killed more than 50 civilians. Twelve members of one family were killed in an airstrike close to the border. Lebanese officials called the Israeli strikes an act of war, and rejected Israel's insistence that it held the entire Lebanese government, and not just Hezbollah, responsible for the soldiers' kidnapping. Saying it is unable to rein in Hezbollah, the Lebanese government has called on the Security Council to intervene, while calling for a comprehensive cease-fire. Lebanese analysts close to Hezbollah say a truce is now up to Israel.
[Ibrahim Moussaoui, Lebanese Analyst:] The door is still wide and open for indirect negotiations, but they have to stop or to start a cease-fire. The Israelis, they didn't want that, it seems.
[Vinci:] With two Hezbollah ministers in its cabinet, the Lebanese government finds itself caught in the middle.
[Zahn:] So, at this hour, Alessio, what else is the government of Lebanon trying to do to bring this under control tonight?
[Vinci:] Well, the the Lebanese government cannot really do much. As I said, they're caught in the middle. On the one side, they are denouncing the Israel attacks. At the same time, they're distancing they're distancing themselves from Hezbollah's kidnapping the two Israeli soldiers, so and and the the government is also split right in the middle. So, they don't don't know they don't really have much power, because they don't control they don't control the southern area of of Lebanon. And, therefore, they have no real possibility, other than involving the Lebanese army. And even that would be a completely even further escalation of the violence. So, the the Lebanese government right now is only calling on the U.N. to intervene, calling for a comprehensive comprehensive cease-fire. And that's really all they can do at this point.
[Zahn:] All right, Alessio Vinci, thanks so much for the update. Appreciate it. Now, earlier on in the day, the radical Islamic group Hezbollah threatened to launch missile attacks against the northern Israeli city of Haifa if Israel attacked Beirut. Well, as the day progressed, swarms of missiles flew, and two of them actually hit Haifa. That has never happened before. Our "Top Story" coverage continues with John Vause reporting tonight from Haifa.
[John Vause, Cnn Correspondent:] This has been a terrifying and deadly 24 hours for Israelis in the north of the country more than 100 Hezbollah rockets fired from Lebanon. Dozens have been injured. "I'm wounded; I'm wounded," yelled this TV cameraman, hit in the leg by shrapnel. The tourist town of Nahariya was hit twice within hours. A car exploded. Buildings were set on fire. One person was killed. At least seven rockets hit the town of Safed, home to Israel's northern command caught in the attack, a group of American Jewish students.
[Unidentified Male:] Mom, we're all safe and sound. God is watching over us.
[Vause:] Here, in a place regarded as holy to Jews, one person was killed. Seven others were hurt. As the rockets came down, the head of Israel's military warned of severe reprisals.
[Lieutenant General Dan Halutz, Chief Of Staff, Israeli Defense Forces:] If if rockets are launched towards Israeli cities, Beirut will be included among the targets.
[Vause:] Hours after that threat, the Israeli military says, for the first time ever, two Hezbollah rockets reached the major northern port city of Haifa, about 20 miles from the Lebanese border. There were no casualties. Hezbollah denies the missiles were theirs, though it had earlier threatened just such an attack. Nonetheless, Israel considers it a major escalation in a crisis that started after an Israeli patrol came under fire, and two soldiers were taken hostage by Hezbollah guerrillas. This is the burnt wreckage of their armored personnel carrier.
[Mark Regev, Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesperson:] We are concerned that the hostage-takers, that the Hezbollah terrorists, could try to remove our service people from Lebanon and take them to third countries. We're concerned that they could be taken to Iran.
[Vause:] Since the abductions, Israel's air force has carried out more than 100 strikes across Lebanon. Its navy is enforcing a blockade off the Lebanese coast. And Israeli artillery has been shelling Hezbollah positions in the south.
[Zahn:] And John Vause joins us again right now. So, John, I think it's pretty understandable why the Israelis are so concerned. But give us a a deeper explanation of why it's so meaningful that this is the first time these kinds of missiles have hit Israeli territory like like Haifa.
[Vause:] Well, in very simple terms, Paula, it now means another 300,000 Israelis could be in the range of Hezbollah rockets. It's still unclear precisely what missiles were fired. Katyusha rockets have a range of around 12 miles Haifa about 20, 25 miles away from the Lebanese border. So, what that could indicate is that Hezbollah has managed to modify its Katyusha rockets, extend the range, or this could have been a different type of missile altogether Paula.
[Zahn:] John Vause, thanks so much. Our "Top Story" is playing out in a part of the world that you're probably a little shaky on when it comes to geography. So, we asked CNN's Tom Foreman to join us from "THE SITUATION ROOM" in Washington with a satellite view of Israel, Lebanon, and more. I think we could all use the geography 101 lesson tonight.
[Tom Foreman, Cnn Correspondent:] It's...
[Zahn:] How you doing tonight tonight?
[Foreman:] ... a confusing part of the word world, Paula. Let's look at the northern end of Africa here, where we're talking about, the Mediterranean Sea over here. Bear in mind what a small area we're talking about Israel and Lebanon together only about the size of Maryland. We're talking about a border that's only about 40 miles long, and all of this activity largely taking place within about an 80-mile area, not much lots of bombing going on the border today. This is Israel down here, Lebanon up there. The southern part is the home ground for Hezbollah. And Israel is trying to set up a ring of fire around them. They have blockaded the sea out here to keep supplies from coming in that way. They hit the airport, knocking out all of the three major runways at the international airport. They also hit a fuel storage place over here later on today, again, cutting off the possibility of supplies coming in. The most recent thing we have heard about, of course, was that hit on the road. This is where that road is, Beirut to Damascus, a major supply line. That's the Bekaa Valley there you hear so much about. But you can see how Israel is closing in all around and trying to isolate Hezbollah. It's not a one-way street, though. Hezbollah has been launching rockets into Israel, hitting Safed, Nahariya, many places down here, and, most importantly, all the way down to Haifa, which had previously been off-limits. It all matters, because it could all bring in Iran, a friend of Hezbollah, and the United States, a friend of Israel, into a bigger conflict. That's why it matters, Paula.
[Zahn:] And you have made it very clear to us tonight. Tom Foreman, thanks so much. Appreciate the assist from "THE SITUATION ROOM" tonight. Now, before the program tonight, I talked about the crisis with Daniel Taub, a spokesman for Israel's foreign minister. How close to war is Israel tonight?
[Daniel Taub, Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman:] We we are very aware of the dangers of escalation, but, at the same time, we're very aware of the fact that another recipe for escalation is allowing terrorist groups to act with impunity. And allowing violence to go unchallenged and allowing threats against the lives of our civilians to go undefended is not a way to move forward.
[Zahn:] But, as you know, sir, you have now got the European Union, you have got France, you have got Russia all saying that Israel has gone too far militarily here, that it's disproportionate to the impact of two Israeli soldiers being abducted. Are you guilty of overreacting?
[Taub:] I don't think we're guilty of overreacting. I think, Paula, you have to understand that what we're talking about, as serious as it is, is not a response to the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers, terrible as that is. What it is, is a responsible to an extremely serious regional threat posed by a terrorist organization which is a part of the Lebanese government, which has 12,000 missiles directed against Israeli civilians, which has an unending flow of terrorist weaponry being directed at it, being transferred to it from Syria to Iran. That's the threat that we're facing. That's the reason why half of the citizens of the Galilee region are now sitting in bunkers and bomb shelters. And I think that we're behaving in a responsible way, in which any democratic country would find itself responding in similar circumstances.
[Zahn:] Given how disorganized and weak the Lebanese government government is perceived by many, how much control do you really think the government has over Hezbollah at this hour?
[Taub:] We think there are many things that the government could be doing. We think that concerted international pressure is one of the ways of making that happen. I think that we cannot allow, as our defense minister has said, Hezbollah to retake positions and literally carry on firing, as it has been doing. I think this crisis cannot be resolved in any way that looks like business as usual. I think we have really got to realize that we're talking about a major threat, a regional threat.
[Zahn:] Sir, I'm still not clear if you think the Lebanese government doesn't have the will to clamp down on Hezbollah, or if it certainly it or if it just doesn't have the ability to do so.
[Taub:] That that, Paula, is a crucial question. But I will be honest. For the citizens of the north of Israel who are sitting in bomb shelters at the moment, it's an academic question, because it's of a whether if the question is whether they can or they won't whether they can't or they won't, the results, unfortunately, are the same the result, that we have an unended barrage of missiles being directed against the north of Israel, and those are not being prevented by the Lebanese government. Our hope is that the Lebanese government will find the will and will find the ability to restrain the Hezbollah terrorist organization, which, as you know, sits in its government. But, if it doesn't, the result clearly has to be steps taken by Israel, like any other country, to defend the lives of its civilians.
[Zahn:] Daniel Taub, thank you so much for your time tonight. We really appreciate it.
[Taub:] Thank you, Paula.
[Zahn:] And, in a few minutes, a completely different point of view I will be talking with Syria's ambassador to the U.N., as we continue our "Top Story" coverage of the crisis in the Middle East. First, though, our countdown of the top 10 most popular stories on CNN.com. And, for that, we turn to Melissa Long of CNN Pipeline, CNN's broadband news service. How you doing tonight?
[Melissa Long, Cnn Pipeline:] Very good. Let's bring you up to date right now, start with number 10. Nineteen million of you relied on CNN.com to keep you informed today. Number 10 a big, huge raise for actor Hugh Laurie, the star of "House." After two months of talks, he has agreed to take $300,000 an episode. His starting pay was said to have been under six figures. "House," have you seen it? It's a blockbuster medical drama on FOX going now into its third season. Number nine on the list Jack Kevorkian, the right-to-die advocate, is apparently in failing health in prison. His lawyers say he weighs 113 pounds and is too weak to read or write. His lawyers want him paroled. He's serving time for murdering a man in 1998. Kevorkian called it a mercy killing. More stories from the countdown are coming up Paula.
[Zahn:] Such a cruel irony, Melissa, that he suffers so much today. Thank you so much. We have got several other top stories we're following tonight, including the force behind today's explosive violence in the Middle East. Hezbollah, it means the Party of God, and it controls some of the most volatile territory on Earth. But where did Hezbollah come from, and what makes it so dangerous? Our "Top Story" on Homeland Security are extremists joining the U.S. military and training for a white supremacist revolution? This man says he did, and that thousands of others may be doing the same all that and more just ahead.