Israel bombs Beirut and Gaza

Tag it:

Written by david

ISRAEL has renewed its air strikes on Beirut while troops, tanks and bulldozers have re-entered southern Gaza.

Israeli tanks and troops moved back into southern Gaza, closing off the entrance to a main town, residents and the military said, and two militants were killed in air strikes, the latest stage of Israel's month-long offensive.

Residents and Palestinian security officials said about 50 tanks, accompanied by bulldozers, crossed kilometres into Gaza early today, taking up positions in a village outside the town of Rafah and at the Gaza airport, which has been out of commission for several years.

Meanwhile, bombs again rained down on the battered outskirts of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

Witnesses said at least four explosions reverberated through the city as missiles hit Dahieh, a Shiite muslim suburb that has been repeatedly shelled by Israel since fighting began three weeks ago.

It was the first air raid against the suburb in almost a week.

The strikes came in the wake of Hezbollah's rocket attack on the Israeli town of Afulah, its deepest hit in Israel so far.

Hezbollah fired a record number of more than 200 rockets into Israel yesterday, as fierce fighting raged on the border.

In Gaza, Israeli forces advanced about 8km, taking control of the main highway and blocking the eastern entrance of Rafah, a town on the Gaza-Egypt border, residents said. It was the farthest the Israelis have advanced in the area since the start of their offensive.

As the tanks took up positions, Israeli aircraft fired missiles at three groups of militants, killing two and wounding seven, security and hospital officials said. Two more people were slightly wounded when a tank shell hit their house.

The Israeli military said its forces were carrying out an operation in southern Gaza and an aircraft fired at militants who were about to launch anti-tank rockets at Israeli forces.

Tags:

Trackback(0)

TrackBack URI for this entry