by Judge » Fri Jul 14, 2006 7:56 am
Israel hits Hezbollah stronghold (bbc news quote)
The overnight strikes followed warning leaflets from Israel
Israel has stepped up its attacks on Lebanon with air raids on southern suburbs in Beirut - known as a stronghold of Hezbollah militants.
Jets also targeted a power plant, the road to the airport and the highway from Beirut to the Syrian capital.
The offensive, which has left more than 50 Lebanese civilians dead since Wednesday, follows the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah.
The escalation of violence has sparked international calls for restraint.
Three civilians were killed and at least 50 wounded in Israel's overnight strikes.
Television pictures showed damage to bridges and firefighters tackling blazes.
ISRAEL IN LEBANON
March 1978: Israel invades to stop Palestinian attacks
1982: Full-scale invasion; Israel occupies Beirut; pro-Israel militias massacre Palestinian refugees
May 1983: Israel pulls back, but keeps "security zone"
February 1992: Israeli air strike kills Hezbollah leader
1996: Israel launches "Grapes of Wrath" raids on Hezbollah; 100 civilians die under Israeli shelling of UN base at Qana
May 2000: Israel withdraws troops from Lebanon
January 2004: Prisoners-bodies swap agreed between Hezbollah and Israel
Israel had warned that southern Beirut could be targeted, dropping leaflets to warn residents not to go near Hezbollah locations - the group's leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah has offices there.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had held a meeting of security chiefs late on Thursday, ordering a widening of the offensive in Lebanon.
A storage tank was struck at the Jiyyeh power plant south of Beirut, starting a large blaze, witnesses said.
Electricity has been cut in the southern suburbs.
Ground forces in Beirut responded to the Israeli jets with anti-aircraft fire.
Lebanon's road to the Syrian capital Damascus - the main arterial route - was closed by Israeli jet attacks in the central mountains region, Lebanese officials said.
On Thursday, Israeli forces twice struck the international airport in Beirut.
And with Israeli ships blockading the coast, Lebanon was being virtually cut off.
Lebanese police also reported an Israeli air strike early on Friday on a pro-Syrian Palestinian group in eastern Lebanon.
The base of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command is less than two kilometres from the Syrian border.
Hezbollah rockets fired into Israel have killed at least two Israelis and injured dozens over the past two days.
Hezbollah had earlier warned attacks on Beirut would spark a response of more rockets - including at Haifa, Israel's third-largest city.
Rockets did land there on Thursday and although Hezbollah denied firing them, Israeli ambassador in Washington, Danny Ayalon, described the incident as a "major escalation" of the crisis.
'Playing with fire'
The Lebanese government has asked the UN Security Council to demand a ceasefire.
Israeli views on the crisis with Lebanon
Amid international calls for calm, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he was "profoundly worried" by the violence and said he would send a high-level team to the Middle East.
But Mr Ayalon said the international community should make it clear to Iran and Syria - which Israel says form an "axis of terror" with Hezbollah and Palestinian militants Hamas - that they were "playing with fire".
Iranian President Ahmadinejad increased the tension, telling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a telephone call that there would be a "fierce response" to any Israeli attack on Syria.
"If the Zionist regime commits another stupid move and attacks Syria, this will be considered like attacking the whole Islamic world," he was quoted on Syrian television as saying.
However, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said that Israeli claims the captured soldiers were being taken to Iran were "simply nonsense".
Syrian ambassador to the US Imad Mustafa said Washington should use its power to end Israel's attack on Lebanon.
Hezbollah has fired dozens of rockets into northern Israel
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Israel should exercise restraint but also demanded that Syria put pressure on Hezbollah to stop attacks on Israel.
The US has now authorised families of embassy staff in Beirut to leave and urged Americans to avoid travelling to Lebanon.
The Israeli offensive follows a day of heavy fighting on Wednesday in which the Israelis suffered their worst losses on the border for several years.
Eight soldiers were killed and two were injured, in addition to the two captured in a Hezbollah ambush.
Hezbollah has said the captured soldiers will not be returned without a release deal for Palestinian, Lebanese and other Arab prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Israel is also continuing a separate offensive in the Gaza Strip. An Israeli soldier was captured there last month.
