Iranian clerics seek fighters

A group of conservative Iranian clerics launched an online registration drive Monday seeking volunteers to fight against Israel in response to its air assault on the Gaza Strip.

About 3,550 people registered with the Combatant Clergy Society's website. The weeklong online campaign gives volunteers three options on ways they can fight Israel: military, financial and propaganda.

The group, which has political and economic power in Iran, did not provide further details on the program. The program came after Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a religious decree that said anyone killed while defending Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip against Israeli attacks would be considered a martyr.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese Hezbollah supporters stood in the pouring rain Monday to protest Israel's air assault.

The rally was by far the largest protest in the Arab world, where outrage over Israel's airstrikes has been strong.

The massive rally was called for by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who said Monday: "Israel's air force will fail to destroy the will of the [Palestinian] fighters firing rockets."

"Death to Israel," and "At your service, Gaza!" the crowd shouted.

In Egypt, thousands rallied, calling for the intervention of Arab armies to protect the Palestinians.

In Iraq, about 1,000 backers of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr staged a protest in eastern Baghdad. "No, no to Israel," they shouted as they burned Israeli and U.S. flags.

Jordan's King Abdullah donated blood for Gaza victims, saying he was "upset" by the scale of the Israeli offensive.

In Sudan, thousands rallied in Khartoum for a second day, marching to the Egyptian Embassy to call for an opening of the Egyptian-Gaza border for supplies and aid to the Palestinians. The protesters also marched to the U.N. headquarters.

There were also protests in Athens, Greece; Berlin and London.

He said key international and regional players -- including foreign ministers of the Arab League nations holding an emergency meeting Wednesday -- must "act swiftly and decisively to bring an early end to this impasse."

But the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations said Israel would not accept a return to terms of the recent truce, which she charged was used by Hamas to restock its arsenal. Ambassador Gabriela Shalev expressed regret for civilian deaths, but said Hamas is responsible by operating in residential areas.