Beirut, Lebanon - Standing in the midst of the rubble of south Beirut, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora called the Israeli bombing campaign "a crime against humanity," and Lebanon's defense minister warned any group that breaks the Middle East ceasefire will be dealt with harshly.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Saniora walks past a destroyed building in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2006. Saniora, standing amid the rubble of devastated streets in Beirut's southern suburbs, accused Israel Sunday of committing a 'crime against humanity' by its destruction of Lebanon. [AP Photo]

Saniora toured south Beirut accompanied by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah backer. The area, a Hezbollah stronghold, bore the brunt of Israeli airstrikes during the monthlong fighting between Israel and the Shiite militia.

"What we see today is an image of the crimes Israel has committed," Saniora told reporters. "There is no other description other than a criminal act that shows Israel's hatred."

Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr, meanwhile, said Hezbollah was committed to the UN-imposed ceasefire. He warned militia groups against any rocket attacks aimed at Israel saying Israel could use rocket attacks as a pretext to renew its airstrikes.

On Saturday, Israeli commandos raided a Hezbollah stronghold deep in Lebanon, engaging in a fierce gunbattle, and the Lebanese government threatened to halt further troop deployments to protest what UN officials called a violation of the 6-day-old ceasefire.

Israel said the raid was launched to stop arms smuggling from Iran and Syria to the militant Shiite fighters. An Israeli officer was killed during the raid, and two soldiers were wounded, one seriously.

There were no signs of further clashes, but the flare-up underlined worries about the fragility of the ceasefire as the UN pleaded for nations to send troops to an international force in southern Lebanon that is to separate Israeli and Hezbollah fighters.

The office of Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a statement later Saturday labeling the operation a violation of the UN truce.

A contingent of 49 French soldiers landed in the south Saturday, providing the first reinforcements for the 2,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission known as UNIFIL that has been stationed in the region for years. About 200 more were expected next week.

They were the first additions to what is intended to grow into a 15,000-soldier UN force to police the truce with an equal number of Lebanese soldiers. France leads UNIFIL and already had 200 soldiers in Lebanon before the reinforcements.

But with Europe moving slowly to provide more troops, Israel warned it would continue to act on its own to enforce an arms embargo on the Lebanese guerrilla group until the Lebanese army and an expanded UN peacekeeping force are in place.

"If the Syrians and Iran continue to arm Hezbollah in violation of the resolution, Israel is entitled to act to defend the principle of the arms embargo," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said. "Once the Lebanese army and the international forces are active ... then such Israeli activity will become superfluous."

Defense Minister Elias Murr met with UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen and threatened to halt the movement of Lebanese troops into the former war zone in the south if the United Nations did not intervene against Israel. That could deeply damage efforts to deploy a strong UN peacekeeping force.

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