Haifa (Israel), July 18 (Reuters): Israelis want their army to smash Hizbollah, pure and simple.

Stunned by the wave of rocket attacks from the Lebanese guerrilla group, shocked by its long-range arsenal and angry the world has done little about it, Israelis are rallying behind Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his offensive in Lebanon.

Most want the military to hunt down Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and kill him. “We are killing those we need to kill,” said Hanna Dehan, 60, speaking near the city of Haifa, where eight people were killed on Sunday when a Hizbollah rocket hit a train station.

A poll published today showed that 86 per cent of Israelis believed the army’s attacks on Lebanon were justified. The air raids have killed 230 people, all but 26 of them civilians.

Around a million Israelis across the country’s north have been forced into bomb shelters or fled to towns further south. Some of those under fire show little sympathy for Lebanese civilians caught in Israeli air strikes.

“Why do they warn people there to leave buildings. Do they bother to warn us before they fire a rocket?” asked Ron Katz, 35, in a Haifa bomb shelter, referring to leaflets dropped on Lebanon warning people to flee before attacks.

The poll published in the mass circulation Yedioth Ahronoth daily today showed 58 per cent of Israelis believed the offensive should continue until the army killed Nasrallah. Only 17 per cent said Israel should stop fighting.