Israeli-Lebanese attacks intensify

At least 55 people have been killed in Israeli air raids in Lebanon, including several strikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut where Hezbollah has its political headquarters.

Residents of southern Beirut heard the impact of at least four Israeli missiles early on Friday and the Lebanese army responded with anti-aircraft fire.

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV and other local stations said a bridge in the area was hit. Security sources said the main highway to the airport and the south was also hit.

Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, has his office and residence in the district of Haret Hreik in south Beirut. Hezbollah’s Shura Council, its decision-making body, and their TV station are also located nearby.

Israeli jets dropped leaflets on Thursday warning people to stay away from Hezbollah offices.

Police said a fuel storage tank at a power station on the coast was destroyed during the strikes.

Hezbollah targets on the outskirts of Hermel, near the border with Syria, were also targeted by Israeli planes, police said.

Rocket attacks

The Israeli army said Hezbollah fighters fired more than 100 rockets on northern Israel on Thursday, killing two people, wounding 92 others and hitting Israel’s third largest city, Haifa.

Hezbollah, a Shia group backed by Iran and Syria, denied it had fired on the port city.

Israel tightened its blockade of Lebanon by launching seven air raids over a 20km stretch of the highway between Beirut and Damascus, the Syrian capital.

The road was closed as a precautionary measure, the authorities said.

The road across the border from Syria was the only major entry point into Lebanon still operating after Israel blockaded ports and destroyed the runways at Beirut’s airport on Thursday.

More targets

A senior Israeli officer said the blockade would be maintained throughout what he said would be a prolonged offensive against Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah.

At least 55 civilians have died in Israeli raids since Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on Wednesday.

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, ordered the army to continue with operations in Lebanon after meeting his defence minister and army chief of staff.

“The government has authorised the army to press on with its operation in Lebanon and hit more targets,” a government official said.

The violence is the fiercest since 1996 when Israeli troops still occupied part of south Lebanon.

Riyadh blames Hezbollah

On Thursday, Saudi Arabia blamed “elements” inside Lebanon for the situation, seemingly criticising Hezbollah and Iran.

“A distinction must be made between legitimate resistance and uncalculated adventures undertaken by elements inside [Lebanon] and those behind them, without recourse to the legal authorities and consulting and co-ordinating with Arab nations,” a statement on the official news agency SPA said.

“These elements should bear the responsibility for their irresponsible actions and they alone should end the crisis they have created,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, Iran warned Israel against attacking Lebanon’s neighbour Syria.

“If Israel commits another act of idiocy and aggresses Syria, this will be the same as an aggression against the entire Islamic world and it will receive a stinging response,” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, said in a telephone conversation with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad.

Ahmadinejad also told Emile Lahoud, the Lebanese president, that “Iran would put all its potential at the service of Lebanon”.

“Iran will stay by the side of the Lebanese in the delicate circumstances in their homeland,” he said in a separate phone conversation, according to a statement from the Lebanese government.

Iran denies getting soldiers

Iran also rejected claims that the two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah on Wednesday were being moved there.

On Thursday, Israel said it had information that Hezbollah were trying to transfer them to Iran in an apparent move to prevent them from being rescued.

Mark Regev, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, did not disclose the source of his information.

Hamid Reza Asefi, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, said: “This regime (Israel) is trapped in its homemade crisis and these sort of accusations are simply nonsense.”

UN emergency session

On Friday, the United Nations Security Council is holding an emergency session to discuss the Israeli offensive.

Lebanon has asked the UN to adopt a resolution demanding a ceasefire and an end to the Israeli attacks.

“The Lebanese government calls upon the United Nations Security Council to issue a firm, comprehensive and immediate resolution to establish a ceasefire and to lift the siege on Lebanon in all its forms,” Beirut’s UN mission said.

Israel told the UN on Wednesday that it held Lebanon responsible for the capture of the two soldiers, which it termed an act of war.

Agencies