- Title: LEBANON: Israeli rockets hit Beirut airport.
- Date: 13th July 2006
- Summary: PEOPLE LEAVING THE AREA CARRYING LUGGAGE AND SUITCASES
- Embargoed: 28th July 2006 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Lebanon
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVABD7CFSBQCHXUYSB6YUDMQVIH5
- Story Text: Israel struck Beirut airport and Hizbollah television and began enforcing a naval blockade of Lebanon on Thursday (July 13), intensifying reprisals after Hizbollah seized two Israeli soldiers and killed eight a day earlier.
The Israeli attacks have killed 36 Lebanese civilians.
Hizbollah retaliated for Israeli "massacres" by firing 60 Katyusha rockets at Nahariya in northern Israel. A civilian was killed and at least 21 were wounded, Israeli medics said.
The violence was the worst between Israel and Lebanon since 1996 when Israeli troops still occupied part of the south. It coincided with an major Israeli offensive into the Gaza Strip to retrieve a captured soldier and halt Palestinian rocket fire.
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 on Wednesday.
Israel aircraft bombed runways at Beirut's Rafik al-Hariri International Airport, forcing flights to divert to Cyprus.
The attack followed dawn air strikes in south Lebanon which killed 34 civilians, including eight young children, and wounded 52 people, security sources said. Ten members of one 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 Hizbollah fighter. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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