Israeli airstrikes kill 20, destroy homes
(AP)
Updated: 2006-07-30 15:22
Despite its intense bombardment of Lebanon - and heavy ground fighting near
the border - Israel has been unable to stop barrages of hundreds of Hezbollah
rockets. Guerrillas fired at least 90 rockets into Israel Saturday, lightly
injuring five people.
Israel has said it will launch a series of limited ground incursions into
Lebanon to push back guerrillas, rather than carrying out a full-fledged
invasion. The pullback from Bint Jbail suggested that thrust, launched a week
ago, had ended.
Lebanese officials reported a massing of troops and tanks near the Israeli
town of Metulla further to the northeast, on the tip of the Galilee Panhandle
near the Golan Heights, indicating another incursion could begin soon.
Like Bint Jbail, the Lebanese town of Khiam just across the border from
Metulla is one of the largest in the border zone. Khiam has been under intense
bombardment in recent days - including a strike that hit a U.N. post nearby and
killed four observers on Tuesday.
An Israeli strike near the border Saturday hit near a U.N. peacekeepers'
station, wounding two. The world body had just relocated unarmed U.N. observers
to the peacekeepers' posts for safety after the four deaths.
Israel's pullback of its forces from Bint Jbail ended the bloodiest siege in
what has so far been only a limited ground incursion into southern Lebanon.
The weeklong battle around the town underscored Israel's difficulty in
pushing back guerrillas who have been preparing for years for this fight,
building up arsenals and digging in with tunnels and shelters in caves.
Bombardment by Israeli forces and rocket fire from guerrillas was intense
Saturday morning around the Hezbollah stronghold, Lebanese security officials
said.
Maj. Gen. Udi Adam, head of Israel's northern command,
said Israel never intended to occupy Bint Jbail or to get "stuck in one place."
He insisted the real mission - "to destroy infrastructure and kill terrorists" -
had been a success.
|
