Israeli aircraft bombed Hezbollah's headquarters in south Beirut in a failed bid to kill its leader before top U.S., European and United Nations officials prepared today to discuss appeals by Lebanon for a truce.

Israeli warplanes dropped about 23 metric tons of explosives on the compound late yesterday, the army said, acknowledging that Hezbollah's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah may have been inside a bunker there. Hezbollah issued a statement today saying none of its leaders was harmed.

"We are continuing to operate against all elements of the command of Hezbollah, starting with those in the field and of course up to the head of the organization,'' Israeli Brigadier General Ron Friedman said in an interview with Israel Radio.

Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief who talked with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem yesterday, is scheduled to meet UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in New York today to discuss an international effort to stop the fighting.

At least 300 Lebanese and 29 Israelis have been killed in the violence, according to authorities in both countries. About 500,000 Lebanese have been displaced from their homes since the start of the conflict July 12, Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said in Beirut, warning that his country is being "torn apart".

The Israeli air force attacked more than 200 targets in Lebanon in the past 24 hours, the Israel Defense Forces said today in a statement. Hezbollah fired more than 140 missiles across the border in the same period, killing two children and injuring dozens of civilians, it said.