204 MPs V ONE PM; Pressure on Blair to call for immediate ceasefire as deadly strikes hit hopes of peace deal EXCLUSIVE MIDDLE EAST WAR: DAY 26.

Byline: By BOB ROBERTS Deputy Political Editor

MORE than 200 MPs last night demanded Tony Blair call for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East as hopes for a peace deal faded.

An exclusive survey given to the Mirror shows huge opposition to the Prime Minister's refusal to back an end to the violence, with 204 MPs - - including 119 Labour members - in favour of "an immediate and effective ceasefire". Only 17 were against.

The news came after Israel launched a massive air strike on Beirut yesterday following Hizbol-lah's deadliest rocket attack so far, in which 10 Israeli reservists were killed on a kibbutz.

Both sides stepped up attempts to inflict as much damage as possible.

Brendan Cox, of the Ceasefire Today group, which carried out the poll, said: "The British Government has yet to use its full influence.

"By failing to back the UN and international calls for an immediate ceasefire the Government has reduced their impact. They may have risked putting civilian lives at risk." He was backed by Oxfam's Head of Policy Jo Leadbeater, who said: "We have not yet heard a compelling argument as to why Mr Blair will not call for a ceasefire.

"The present policy looks in danger of placing the UK Government in the position of only calling for a ceasefire once one side in the conflict has achieved its military objectives."

As the war's death toll reached 853, slow UN negotiations continued for a resolution calling for an end to all action by Hizbollah and a cessation of "offensive operations" by Israel.

Diplomatic sources said this would not end Israeli attacks, which they deemed "defensive".

Neither side expected the violence to stop. Some diplomats warned Iran could be drawn into the conflict.

US Secretary of State Condoleez-za Rice said: "We're trying to deal with a problem that has been festering in Lebanon for years.

"It's not going to be solved by one resolution in the Security Council." Lebanon rejected the draft resolution because it would allow Israeli forces to remain on Lebanese soil.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said: "Their resolution will either drop Lebanon into internal strife or will be impossible to implement." And Israel said it will keep waging war on Hizbollah even after the UN resolution is passed. Justice Minister Haim Ramon said: "We must continue the fighting, continue to hit whoever we can hit from Hizbollah."

Israel's ambassador to the UN Dan Gellerman warned that a Hizbollah attack on Tel Aviv would be regarded as a "direct act of war" by Iran.

He said: "Hizbollah would not dare to launch rockets at Tel Aviv without specific orders from Iran. I think the implications are very clear." Yesterday, Israeli security forces claimed they had captured a Hizbollah guerrilla who helped in the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers on July 12 that sparked the war.

An Israeli army spokesman said: "We can confirm one of the Hizbollah we have captured was involved in the kidnapping of our soldiers."

The capture came as Hizbollah rockets hit the port city of Haifa, killing three people and injuring dozens in Israel's third largest city.

But it was the group's strike on the kibbutz close to the Lebanon border that prompted Israel to pound Beirut in the early evening. Food and fuel were beginning to run out in Beirut yesterday after Israeli fighter jets destroyed all routes to the capital.

Mr Blair spoke by phone yesterday to US President George Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "Our main point is the need to get the resolution agreed as soon as possible.

"The Prime Minister's view is that events overnight have made the need to bring about an end to the hostilities even clearer."

Hizbollah has killed 58 Israeli soldiers and 36 civilians in the conflict.

At least 759 people have been killed in Lebanon during the war.

[e-mail]

CAPTION(S):

RESOLUTE: Blair will not back down