The Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said his militants would fire more rockets at central Israeli cities if Israel's offensive in Lebanon was not halted.
In a speech televised on Hezbollah's television channel, Nasrallah said he believed Israel wanted a ceasefire but was being pressured by Washington to continue the conflict.
He said the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who arrived in Israel earlier today, had come to impose conditions and serve the Jewish state. Dr Rice will have discussions with Israeli and Lebanese leaders.
The military conflict between the Jewish state and Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla group in south Lebanon has been raging for 18 days.
It is reported Israeli officials have indicated that Israel may be willing to cease fighting as soon as a UN resolution is passed and before any interational peace-keeping force is ready to deploy in south Lebanon.
The United Nations has warned that the deaths of four of its personnel in an Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon may deter countries from contributing to any future peacekeeping force in the area.
The UN already has an interim force in the region created in the 1970s to help the Lebanese governmetn restore its authority.
Israel, meanwhile, has rejected a UN call for a three-day truce in southern Lebanon. The UN says children, elderly and disabled are trapped and supplies are running out.
But an Israeli spokesman said there was no need for a truce as they had opened a humanitarian corridor to the area.
Dublin protest
Around 1200 people attended an anti-war demonstration in Dublin city today.
The protest was organised by the Irish Anti-War Movement and the Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
