- Title: LEBANON: Israeli warplanes extend their assault on Lebanon
- Date: 15th July 2006
- Summary: CLOSE OF CRATER
- Embargoed: 30th July 2006 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Lebanon
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: War / Fighting,Defence / Military
- Reuters ID: LVAHFGZA3V9EI50ATZ9G77L9HC
- Story Text: Israeli air strikes killed at least 27 civilians on Saturday (July 15), pounding Lebanon for a fourth straight day to punish it for letting Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hizbollah fighters threaten northern Israel.
U.S. President George W. Bush said Syria should persuade Hizbollah to stop cross-border attacks from Lebanon's mainly Shi'ite Muslim south.
An Israeli missile wrecked a van near the southern port of Tyre, killing 15 passengers and wounding six, police said. The van was carrying families fleeing the village of Marwaheen after Israeli loudspeaker warnings to leave their homes.
Israeli aircraft also bombed a Hizbollah office in southern Beirut's Haret Hreik district, and attacked roads, bridges and petrol stations in north, east and south Lebanon, killing at least 12 people and wounding 32, security sources said.
Israel's campaign, launched after Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight on Wednesday, has killed 93 people, all but two civilians, and paralysed Lebanon's economy.
It aims not just to force Hizbollah to free the soldiers, but to destroy its ability to launch rocket attacks on northern Israel, where four civilians have been killed this week.
The Israeli military said on Saturday it had only carried out bombing raids on Lebanese territory and not inside Syria after reports of attacks very close to the Syrian border.
Earlier witnesses said Israeli warplanes had bombed a Lebanese-Syrian border crossing point, indicating that air strikes were straying close to Syrian territory. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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