Three U.S. transport planes carrying military aid to Lebanon's army arrived in Beirut Saturday, part of an international airlift to help government forces fighting Islamic militants in a Palestinian refugee camp, airport officials said.
The planes arrived from Kuwait, according to the officials, speaking to the AP. Eight military transport planes have landed at Beirut airport since late Thursday - four from the U.S. Air Force, two from the United Arab Emirates and two from Jordan.
The military said it received supplies from Arab states and the U.S.. Media reports said they included ammunition, body armor, helmets and night-vision equipment.
Also Saturday, a few dozen Palestinians left the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp as a four-day old truce kept hold amid sporadic exchanges of gunfire.
Meanwhile, Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah warned Friday that Lebanon was being dragged into a U.S. war against al-Qaeda that would destabilize the country. He advised the military against assaulting the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp, calling instead for a negotiated solution.
"Does it concern us that we start a conflict with al-Qaeda in Lebanon and consequently attract members and fighters of al-Qaeda from all over the world to Lebanon to conduct their battle with the Lebanese army and the rest of the Lebanese?" he said in a televised address.
Defense Minister Elias Murr said Friday he was "leaving room for political negotiations," which he said must lead to the surrender of the fighters from the Fatah Islam group inside the camp. "If the political negotiations fail, I leave it to the military command to do what is necessary," he told reporters.
U.S. military officials have said Washington will send eight planes of supplies, part of a package that had been agreed on but that the Lebanese government asked to be expedited.
About half of Nahr el-Bared's population of 31,000 fled the camp during the truce, flooding into the nearby Beddawi camp. At least 20 civilians and 30 soldiers were killed in the fighting earlier this week. The Lebanese military says 60 Fatah Islam fighters were killed, though the group put the toll at 10.
