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Hezbollah fires at Israel
13/07/2006 15:26 - (SA)
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| A crater is seen next to planes on a runway after Israeli warplanes targeted the Rafik Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon. (Hussein Malla, AP) |
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Beirut - Hezbollah fired rockets onto towns in northern Israel as at least 52 civilians died in Israeli air raids on Lebanon on Thursday, as it expanded reprisals since Hezbollah captured two of its soldiers and killed eight a day earlier.
The Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim group retaliated by raining rockets onto northern Israel, and threatened to bombard Israel's third-largest city of Haifa if Beirut or its southern suburbs were attacked.
An Israeli woman was killed and 29 people were wounded, including
children, in Nahariya, Israeli medics said.
Eleven people were wounded in the northern town of Safed.
The violence was the fiercest since 1996 when Israeli troops
still occupied part of south Lebanon. It coincided with a major
Israeli offensive into the Gaza Strip to retrieve a captured
soldier and halt Palestinian rocket fire.
Airport attacked, blockade
Israeli aircraft bombed runways at Beirut's international
airport, forcing flights to divert to Cyprus.
An Israeli military spokesperson announced a naval blockade of
Lebanese ports. Israeli vessels were visible from the shore. A
Beirut port official said ships had docked early in the day, but
that the Israelis had prevented some from leaving.
A senior Israeli officer told Reuters the air and sea
blockade would be maintained throughout what he said would be a
prolonged offensive against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.
"We should not consider this a matter of days," said
Brigadier-General Amir Eshel, deputy chief of air force staff.
"This blockade will last as long as the conflict goes on."
Civilians killed in air strikes
Sustained air strikes in south Lebanon killed at least 50
civilians, including more than 15 children, and wounded 100
people, security sources said.
Ten members of a family were killed in Dweir village and seven family members died in Baflay.
A Lebanese army soldier was also killed. Israeli air strikes
on Wednesday killed two civilians and a Hezbollah fighter. Two
dozen bridges have been hit, with most heavily damaged.
Evacuation of Beirut neighbourhood
Israeli media said the army had warned Lebanon to evacuate
all residents from a southern Beirut neighbourhood where it
believes Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah lives.
The army had no comment on whether it would try to kill
Nasrallah, but Justice Minister Haim Ramon told Israel Radio:
"Anyone who acts against the state of Israel... is a target".
There was no confirmation from the Lebanese authorities that
they had received any warning from Israel to evacuate the area,
home to hundreds of thousands of mostly impoverished Shi'ites.
Hezbollah threatened to bombard Israel's third-largest city
of Haifa if Beirut or its southern suburbs were attacked.
Gaza assault
Despite the flare-up in Lebanon, Israel signalled no let-up
in its Gaza assault, mounting an air strike that destroyed the
office of Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar. At
least 24 Palestinians were killed in Gaza on Wednesday.
- Reuters
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