Israel Expands Lebanon Bombing
Israel pounded Hezbollah's southern Beirut strongholds with missiles early Friday and, in a sharp expansion of its bombing of Lebanon, blasted highway bridges for the first time in the Christian heartland north of the capital during morning rush hour.
Five civilians were killed and 19 wounded in the airstrikes on bridges north of Beirut early morning, Lebanese security officials said. A Lebanese soldier was killed and two other soldiers were wounded along with four civilians in air raids near Beirut airport and the southern suburbs of the capital overnight, security officials and witnesses said.
And in Israel, more than 100 Hezbollah rockets struck the northern part of the country Friday, killing three Israeli Arabs, police said. One rocket crashed into a house in the Arab village of Mughar, near the town of Tiberias, killing a 26-year-old woman and seriously wounding a second person, police said. Later, rockets hit the Arab villages of Majdel Krum and Dir el-Assad, killing a man in each, police said.
Hezbollah also said earlier Friday that its guerrillas killed six Israeli soldiers in fierce fighting in the Lebanese border villages of Aita al-Shaab and Markaba. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. There are approximately 10,000 Israeli troops in Lebanon, CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey reports.
Surprisingly, Israeli warplanes struck in the Christian areas north of Beirut where Hezbollah has no support and has no presence. However, it may be part of Israel's attempt to pressure the Lebanese government to accept its conditions for ending the fighting by cutting off Lebanese regions.
The sharp expansion of the aerial bombing campaign against Lebanon came a day after Hezbollah fired a large number of rockets on Israeli towns. It also came hours after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in a speech televised Thursday, threatened to launch missiles at Tel Aviv, Israel's largest metropolis, if Israel attacks Beirut proper. He also offered to halt rocket attacks on Israel in return for an end to the air attacks.
In other developments:
Israeli fighter jets destroyed four bridges on the main north-south coastal highway during the morning rush hour at the port city of Jounieh, a picturesque tourist resort on the Mediterranean 12.5 miles north of Beirut, and areas further north. Casualties were in moving vehicles or neighboring houses, the security officials said.
The north-south highway also links Beirut with Syria in the north, and is now the country's only link to the outside world. The other eastern border crossing points to Syria have been severed by airstrikes. Israel has imposed a naval blockade and has hit the international airport to seal off Lebanon.
Among the bridges destroyed is the Casino du Liban bridge, across from its namesake building on a bay by the Mediterranean. It is famous for being one of the Middle East's main gambling attractions.
Israeli fire power also rendered impassable the Madfoun Bridge, about 25 miles north of Beirut, the officials said. The area is a fishing community that lives off the sea and tourism.
The attacks plunged cars into ravines, starting brush fires in the busy early morning traffic.
Local television showed video of rescuers sifting through twisted metal and blocks of concrete to rescue people whose cars fell from the Madfoun bridge. A van was stuck in a hole made by a missile, its driver resting on his back on the ground outside. His face was blackened and covered with dust but he appeared still alive.
Israeli jets also targeted a bridge in the Faraya-Oyoun el-Siman area in Lebanon's central mountains, security officials said. The bridge links the Christian heartland of Kesrouan with eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.
Airstrikes on the capital's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, began just before 1 a.m. local time, causing two huge explosions. On Thursday, Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets on the area warning people to leave.
Fighter planes appeared to focus on the southern suburb of Ouzai, making 24 pre-dawn overflights in less than an hour, local media said.
The attacks on Ouzai, a predominantly Shiite area, were the first since fighting between Hezbollah and Israel began 24 days ago. At daybreak, New TV reported two additional strikes on the area, airing footage of smoke billowing from buildings.
The security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said one Lebanese soldier was killed and two other wounded when a missile hit an army post in Ouzai.
In southern Lebanon, where Israeli forces were attempting to advance deeper inside Lebanon, guerrillas fired rockets and machine guns at Israeli armored and infantry units.
Hezbollah statements broadcast on the group's Al Manar television said its guerrillas destroyed an Israeli tank and an armored personnel carrier in separate battles in border villages, and inflicted losses on Israeli troops.
Shortly before midnight Thursday, Israeli warplanes staged three bombing runs on the offices of a Lebanese charity linked to Hezbollah, in the southern market town of Nabatiyeh, security officials said. The three-story building was destroyed, while 10 empty buildings nearby sustained damage, the officials said.
Israeli jets launched three attacks near Baalbek and the Lebanese-Syrian border crossing at Masnaa, east of Beirut, local media reported.