Monday, July 24 2006 17:15 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beirut: Israel captured two fighters from Hezbollah as it kept up its blistering air and ground blitz on Lebanon today (July 24, 2006) despite accusations from the UN relief chief it was violating humanitarian law.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was to visit Israel today (July 24, 2006) amid mounting calls for a halt to a conflict that has killed close to 400 people in just 12 days and triggered a major humanitarian crisis.

UN humanitarian coordinator Jan Egeland, in Beirut to launch a urgent appeal for funds for half a million people made homeless by the conflict, made no attempt to hide his fury as he toured bombed-out areas of Beirut.

"This is destruction of block after block of mainly residential areas. I would say it seems to be an excessive use of force in an area with so many citizens," he told reporters in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold.

Asked if the Israeli raid constituted a war crime, Egeland replied, "It makes it a violation of humanitarian law."

According to Israeli military radio, the army captured two militants from Hezbollah in the south Lebanese village of Marun al-Ras, seized by Israel in a major incursion last week, and brought them back to Israel.

The capture appeared a tit-for-tat response to Hezbollah's seizure of two Israeli soldiers on July 12 which started the current crisis and spurred Israel to embark on an offensive to defeat the Shiite militant group.

The Israeli military early today fired five shells on the Rashidiyeh Palestininan refugee camp in south Lebanon, wounding six people, the first such strike in its offensive.