Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Siniora has accused Israel of cutting his country to pieces and demanded an immediate ceasefire in its operation against the Hezbollah.
In an interview with the CNN on Friday, Siniora said Lebanon was being punished for something in which it had no hand - the abduction of two Israeli soldiers and the killing of eight more by the Hezbollah fighters.
"Lebanon is continuing its aggression against Lebanon and the Lebanese," Siniora said.
"It's sparing nobody, in no area of Lebanon. Actually it is cutting the country into pieces, whereby more than 20 bridges in the country have been destroyed."
Siniora also accused Israel of being careless about civilian lives and of trying to cripple his recovering country's economy.
"Lebanon has been penalised ... The Lebanese government has made it very clear that it had no information about this operation and it takes no responsibility, and in fact, it is disavowing (it)."
"I believe that we should try to arrive at an immediate ceasefire."
"Does it really pay Israel to really cripple, finally, a democracy like Lebanon?"
Israel has demanded the Lebanon government implement UN Security Council resolution 1559, which calls for the disarmament of the Hezbollah, which it says is backed by Syria and Iran.