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Israel hits targets along Lebanese coastBEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Israeli strikes smashed into Beirut, a region near Lebanon's border with Syria, and ports along the Lebanese coast as the Israel Defense Forces reported scores of rockets fired at Israeli towns. Israel was intensifying its attacks from the air, sea and land Saturday on targets such as Beirut, Tripoli and the Christian cities of Amchit and Junieh, according to Lebanese media. Israel also hit an area near the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, where Hezbollah guerrillas are launching rockets at Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said. At least 82 Lebanese civilians and two soldiers have died in the Israeli attacks since they started Wednesday. Four Israeli civilians, eight soldiers and one sailor have died, Israeli authorities said. The IDF said it "regrets civilian casualties while targeting the missile launching area," but did not provide any details of dead and injured. Earlier an Israeli airstrike near Tyre hit a minibus carrying 20 civilians, killing at least 15 of them, Lebanese internal security sources said. The IDF said it was making "every effort" to avoid civilian casualties, adding: "Responsibility for endangering civilian population rests on the Hezbollah terror organization, which operates and launches missiles at Israel from populated civilian areas." More than 75 rockets were fired at Israeli towns on Saturday, the IDF said. One barrage struck Nahariya, a northwestern town near the Lebanese border. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The town has been targeted by Hezbollah rocket strikes since the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese-based guerrilla group started Wednesday. Israel's campaign began when Hezbollah militants based in Lebanon abducted two Israeli soldiers and killed three others during a raid into Israel Wednesday, and Israel vowed to free the soldiers and take out Hezbollah. Leaflets to LebanonIn the coastal city of Sidon, leaflets rained down from Israeli aircraft urging Lebanese citizens to reject the Hezbollah militants. Children and adults rushed to grab and read them, CNN's Nic Robertson in Sidon reported. The leaflets, including a caricature of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as a serpent, read: "Is the resistance ... helping Lebanon? The resistance ... is destroying Lebanon!" The Lebanese minibus that was hit was carrying passengers on a coastal road from Shamaa to Bayada, according to Lebanese internal security forces. It had stopped at a United Nations base where the passengers asked for shelter but were turned away, a security official said. Airstrikes also targeted at least five gas stations in the south and a bridge linking Hasbiyah and Bekaa, the Lebanese Army said. Attacks near Syrian borderIsraeli airstrikes hit near Lebanon's northern border for the first time on Saturday. Also targeted were roads and bridges near the eastern border with Syria to prevent the smuggling of weapons and possibly the whisking away of two captured Israeli soldiers from Lebanon into Syria, the Israel Defense Forces said. Arab media reports say the strike happened in what is regarded as a no-man's-land east of Baalbek, Lebanon. A high-ranking Lebanese government official confirmed the attack, while security forces in Syria told CNN that no Israeli airstrikes hit Syria. At least four Israeli airstrikes pounded Beirut on Saturday, hitting Hezbollah's headquarters, which was struck Friday as well, according to Lebanese interior ministry officials. No casualties were reported from those strikes, the officials said. (Watch roads get destroyed as Israel attacks Beirut again -- 1:32) 'You wanted open war'After more than 12 hours, the Israeli military Saturday located the body of one of the four sailors missing after a Hezbollah missile attack on an Israeli warship, the IDF confirmed to CNN. The warship was damaged but operating "on some level" in spite of a fire that had been extinguished; damage to the ship's steering system was also fixed, an IDF spokeswoman said. Hezbollah-run Al Manar television, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claimed responsibility for the attack on the warship and called it "just the beginning." He also declared "open war" with Israel. (Watch Nasrallah say Hezbollah is ready for war -- 2:14) "You wanted an open war," Nasrallah said on Friday. "Let it be, then, an open war. (Full story) Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel. The group holds 23 of the 128 seats in Lebanon's parliament. (What is Hezbollah?) Gaza attacksThe fighting in Lebanon is the second front in Israel's fight against militants. Since June 25, Israel has been battering targets in the Palestinian territory of Gaza to obtain the release of an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants. ( Full story) The Israeli military said it hit a building on Saturday used by Hamas militants to upgrade and store Qassam rockets. Palestinian security sources said the airstrike hit a house, killing at least two and wounding four others. Hours earlier, the Israeli military fired rockets at the Palestinian Economy Ministry in Gaza City's Shaikh Radwan neighborhood. No casualties were reported in that attack. Other developments:
CNN's John Vause, Richard Roth, Paula Hancocks and Alessio Vinci contributed to this report. |
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