Israeli bombs killed at least 17 civilians in Lebanon on Monday in renewed fighting after diplomatic efforts to end the 27-day-old war stalled.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese prime minister said one person was killed in an Israeli air raid Monday in the southern border village of Houla, lowering the death toll from 40. Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said at a news conference that he had based the initial tally on unspecified information that he had received.

Israeli aircraft also hit the last coastal crossing on the Litani river between Sidon and Tyre, cutting the main artery for aid supplies to civilians in the south, security sources said.

Hizbullah fighters responded by firing more rockets into northern Israel, wounding three persons. Media reports indicated that at least seven Israeli soldiers died Monday in the clashes.

An Israeli army spokesman said over 400 Hizbullah fighters had been killed so far. Lebanese security sources say Hizbullah has lost about 90 dead, some 40 more than the group acknowledges.

On his part, Lebanese Health Minister Mohammad Khalifeh said 925 people, mostly civilians, have been killed and 75 were missing, presumed dead. Some one-third of the dead were children under the age of 13, he told Reuters.

As fighting continued in south Lebanon, Arab foreign ministers met into Beirut on special flights from Jordan and Egypt for an emergency Arab League meeting to discuss the crisis.

Meanwhile, opposition from Lebanon caused the United States and France to delay a vote on a U.N. resolution to halt the fighting. They may submit a revised text after Security Council consultations later in the day.

Lebanon's government has demanded that the U.S.-French draft U.N. resolution include a call for an immediate withdrawal of some 10,000 Israeli troops from its soil.

China and Russia argued the text should take more account of Lebanon's concerns.

© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)