TYRE, Lebanon — Israeli artillery struck a convoy evacuating villagers from southern Lebanon on Friday, and Hezbollah fired what it called a new kind of rocket, landing its deepest hit into northern Israel in 17 days of fighting.
The United Nations decided to remove 50 observers from the Israeli-Lebanon border, locating them instead at posts with 2,000 lightly armed U.N. peacekeepers. The move comes days after Israeli bombs hit a U.N. observer post, killing four.
Also, the United States evacuated about 500 more U.S. citizens from Beirut aboard a chartered cruise ship, believed to the last U.S.-organized departure for Americans. Some 15,000 U.S. citizens have now left Lebanon since fighting erupted after Hezbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid, sparking Israel's harsh retaliation.
The European Union said Friday it has completed evacuating most of its 20,000 citizens who wanted to leave Lebanon, and will now help with mass evacuations of nationals of poorer, non-EU countries.