Israeli troops enter southern Lebanon
SuzannePjam
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Israeli troops enter southern Lebanon
Tuesday, July 18, 2006; Posted: 10:53 p.m. EDT (02:53 GMT)
Blasts light up the sky near Beirut early Wednesday.
LATEST DEATH TOLLS
Israel: 25 dead, including 13 civilians, Israeli military says.
Lebanon: 183 dead, Lebanese authorities say, with no breakdown between civilians and military personnel.
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Israeli ground troops have entered southern Lebanon on a mission to destroy outposts of the militant group Hezbollah, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman told CNN early Wednesday.
The spokesman said the troops are "close to the border." No further details were immediately available.
Hours earlier, Israeli airstrikes pounded the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital near the airport, lighting up the night with explosions.
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from the latest airstrikes, but at least a dozen people were killed in Israel and Lebanon on Tuesday.
Eleven Lebanese soldiers died in an Israeli airstrike on an army barracks, and one Israeli was killed by Hezbollah rockets fired into northern Israel, sources said.
Israel launched an extensive bombing campaign against the militant Islamist group after it abducted two Israeli soldiers and killed three others in a raid into northern Israel last Wednesday. Since Thursday, Hezbollah has fired 750 rockets into Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Also Wednesday, Israeli tanks were rolling into a refugee camp in central Gaza, the IDF said. Israeli forces have been operating in parts of Gaza since one of its soldiers was captured June 25 by three militant groups.
There was no immediate word on casualties in the Gaza operation.
The death toll in northern Israel stands at 25, including 13 civilians. Lebanese internal security forces said 183 people have been killed and 456 wounded in the country since the start of hostilities. There was no breakdown between civilians and military personnel.
Members of Hezbollah told CNN that Israel's aerial assault has not damaged their ability to fight, and vowed to struggle to the death.
Hezbollah officials gave CNN exclusive access to the southern suburbs of Beirut -- the area thought to house the organization's headquarters, CNN's Nic Robertson reported.
Robertson noted that his tour of the area was hurried, and he could not confirm the group's claims that civilians were being targeted or that it had no weapons stockpiles.
Hezbollah members told him that morale is good, Robertson said.
The continuing violence is raising fears that others in the region would join the conflict. (Watch how Syrians are reacting to fighting in Lebanon -- 2:30)
Rocket kills 1 Israeli
A dozen Hezbollah rockets rained down Tuesday in the Israeli coastal town of Nahariya, with one of them landing on a house and killing one person inside, Israeli medical sources and the town's mayor said. (Watch a rocket attack's aftermath in Israel -- 2:53)
"I was near the bomb shelter," eyewitness Eli Dayari told Israeli TV, according to The Associated Press.
"There was a humongous boom, and I saw it was two meters next to my house, really two meters. People are panicking and the house was on fire."
Haifa, Israel's third-largest city, experienced another day of shelling as well. Air raid sirens wailed as four explosions were heard Tuesday afternoon, and people on the streets ran for cover. Haifa police said there were no reports of casualties.
Several people were wounded Tuesday when rockets also struck Safed and Hatzor, medical sources said.
Rockets also hit the northern towns of Akko and Karmiel, but no casualties were reported, medical sources said.
Lebanese soldiers die in strike
Eleven Lebanese soldiers were killed when the Jahour barracks east of Beirut was hit by Israeli airstrikes early Tuesday.
The deaths came a day after six Lebanese troops were killed in a similar strike on a post in Abdeh, north of Beirut.
The Israeli air force also hit two trucks in the coastal town of Jbeil -- also known as Byblos -- north of the capital, Lebanese police said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
In Beirut, debris from the Israeli raids littered mostly deserted streets, Reuters reported. Broken glass, water tanks and satellite dishes lay on the ground, and water from broken pipes filled potholes in roads, Reuters reported.
Buildings left standing were blackened from fires, the news service reported. Stray cats sniffed around a damaged sandwich stall for food. Carpets and rugs were scattered in front of a ruined shop, Reuters reported.
The Lebanese port city of Tyre was under bombardment Tuesday, and unmanned drone aircraft circled overhead. At the site of one bombing, an apartment house, rubble was piled on the street alongside the wreckage of a nearly unrecognizable vehicle.
A poster of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah stood aside a road into the city. A billboard adorned with Hezbollah militia fighters read, "We stay and fight."
Many in Tyre support the militant organization. Mohammed Swyel, 18, said he and his family evacuated their home near the Israeli border in order to allow Hezbollah rocket teams more space to maneuver and fire into Israel.
"Everybody in Lebanon needs Hezbollah," he said. "Of course, we need peace for this country, but not over our dignity. Our dignity is first."
But French Army Maj. Eric Minoli, who is commanding a United Nations contingent in Lebanon, told CNN he is sickened by what he has seen.
"The people are clearly terrorized. Many Lebanese are fleeing north," he said. "As a Frenchman and a United Nations soldier, I hope the diplomats work out a cease-fire."
Evacuations under way
In war-ravaged Lebanon, the evacuation of Westerners began to pick up steam Tuesday as foreign governments moved to get their citizens to safety by land, sea and air.
Hundreds of Westerners have piled on to cruise ships, but tens of thousands remain stranded in Beirut.
The U.S. Navy's Iwo Jima expeditionary group is heading to the Mediterranean from the Red Sea to help with the evacuations, Pentagon officials said.
In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called for a cease-fire "when conditions are conducive to do so" after a meeting Tuesday with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abdul Gheit.
"We all want a cessation of violence; we all want the protection of civilians," Rice said.
In other diplomatic moves, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met with a U.N. delegation headed by special envoy Vijay Nambiar in Jerusalem.
Hezbollah has demanded that Israel exchange Lebanese prisoners in its jails for the captured soldiers, but Israel has rejected calls for a prisoner exchange.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006; Posted: 10:53 p.m. EDT (02:53 GMT)
Blasts light up the sky near Beirut early Wednesday.
LATEST DEATH TOLLS
Israel: 25 dead, including 13 civilians, Israeli military says.
Lebanon: 183 dead, Lebanese authorities say, with no breakdown between civilians and military personnel.
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Israeli ground troops have entered southern Lebanon on a mission to destroy outposts of the militant group Hezbollah, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman told CNN early Wednesday.
The spokesman said the troops are "close to the border." No further details were immediately available.
Hours earlier, Israeli airstrikes pounded the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital near the airport, lighting up the night with explosions.
There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from the latest airstrikes, but at least a dozen people were killed in Israel and Lebanon on Tuesday.
Eleven Lebanese soldiers died in an Israeli airstrike on an army barracks, and one Israeli was killed by Hezbollah rockets fired into northern Israel, sources said.
Israel launched an extensive bombing campaign against the militant Islamist group after it abducted two Israeli soldiers and killed three others in a raid into northern Israel last Wednesday. Since Thursday, Hezbollah has fired 750 rockets into Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Also Wednesday, Israeli tanks were rolling into a refugee camp in central Gaza, the IDF said. Israeli forces have been operating in parts of Gaza since one of its soldiers was captured June 25 by three militant groups.
There was no immediate word on casualties in the Gaza operation.
The death toll in northern Israel stands at 25, including 13 civilians. Lebanese internal security forces said 183 people have been killed and 456 wounded in the country since the start of hostilities. There was no breakdown between civilians and military personnel.
Members of Hezbollah told CNN that Israel's aerial assault has not damaged their ability to fight, and vowed to struggle to the death.
Hezbollah officials gave CNN exclusive access to the southern suburbs of Beirut -- the area thought to house the organization's headquarters, CNN's Nic Robertson reported.
Robertson noted that his tour of the area was hurried, and he could not confirm the group's claims that civilians were being targeted or that it had no weapons stockpiles.
Hezbollah members told him that morale is good, Robertson said.
The continuing violence is raising fears that others in the region would join the conflict. (Watch how Syrians are reacting to fighting in Lebanon -- 2:30)
Rocket kills 1 Israeli
A dozen Hezbollah rockets rained down Tuesday in the Israeli coastal town of Nahariya, with one of them landing on a house and killing one person inside, Israeli medical sources and the town's mayor said. (Watch a rocket attack's aftermath in Israel -- 2:53)
"I was near the bomb shelter," eyewitness Eli Dayari told Israeli TV, according to The Associated Press.
"There was a humongous boom, and I saw it was two meters next to my house, really two meters. People are panicking and the house was on fire."
Haifa, Israel's third-largest city, experienced another day of shelling as well. Air raid sirens wailed as four explosions were heard Tuesday afternoon, and people on the streets ran for cover. Haifa police said there were no reports of casualties.
Several people were wounded Tuesday when rockets also struck Safed and Hatzor, medical sources said.
Rockets also hit the northern towns of Akko and Karmiel, but no casualties were reported, medical sources said.
Lebanese soldiers die in strike
Eleven Lebanese soldiers were killed when the Jahour barracks east of Beirut was hit by Israeli airstrikes early Tuesday.
The deaths came a day after six Lebanese troops were killed in a similar strike on a post in Abdeh, north of Beirut.
The Israeli air force also hit two trucks in the coastal town of Jbeil -- also known as Byblos -- north of the capital, Lebanese police said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
In Beirut, debris from the Israeli raids littered mostly deserted streets, Reuters reported. Broken glass, water tanks and satellite dishes lay on the ground, and water from broken pipes filled potholes in roads, Reuters reported.
Buildings left standing were blackened from fires, the news service reported. Stray cats sniffed around a damaged sandwich stall for food. Carpets and rugs were scattered in front of a ruined shop, Reuters reported.
The Lebanese port city of Tyre was under bombardment Tuesday, and unmanned drone aircraft circled overhead. At the site of one bombing, an apartment house, rubble was piled on the street alongside the wreckage of a nearly unrecognizable vehicle.
A poster of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah stood aside a road into the city. A billboard adorned with Hezbollah militia fighters read, "We stay and fight."
Many in Tyre support the militant organization. Mohammed Swyel, 18, said he and his family evacuated their home near the Israeli border in order to allow Hezbollah rocket teams more space to maneuver and fire into Israel.
"Everybody in Lebanon needs Hezbollah," he said. "Of course, we need peace for this country, but not over our dignity. Our dignity is first."
But French Army Maj. Eric Minoli, who is commanding a United Nations contingent in Lebanon, told CNN he is sickened by what he has seen.
"The people are clearly terrorized. Many Lebanese are fleeing north," he said. "As a Frenchman and a United Nations soldier, I hope the diplomats work out a cease-fire."
Evacuations under way
In war-ravaged Lebanon, the evacuation of Westerners began to pick up steam Tuesday as foreign governments moved to get their citizens to safety by land, sea and air.
Hundreds of Westerners have piled on to cruise ships, but tens of thousands remain stranded in Beirut.
The U.S. Navy's Iwo Jima expeditionary group is heading to the Mediterranean from the Red Sea to help with the evacuations, Pentagon officials said.
In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called for a cease-fire "when conditions are conducive to do so" after a meeting Tuesday with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abdul Gheit.
"We all want a cessation of violence; we all want the protection of civilians," Rice said.
In other diplomatic moves, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met with a U.N. delegation headed by special envoy Vijay Nambiar in Jerusalem.
Hezbollah has demanded that Israel exchange Lebanese prisoners in its jails for the captured soldiers, but Israel has rejected calls for a prisoner exchange.
"Where there is sacrifice there is someone collecting the sacrificial offerings."-- Ayn Rand
"Some of my friends sit around every evening and they worry about the times ahead,
But everybody else is overwhelmed by indifference and the promise of an early bed..."-- Elvis Costello
"Some of my friends sit around every evening and they worry about the times ahead,
But everybody else is overwhelmed by indifference and the promise of an early bed..."-- Elvis Costello
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That lasted only a few hours - the troops came back in the morning. Just wanted to update you all.
About an hour ago the IDF spoted some Hezbollah groups next to Israeli border, and responded by sending ground troops to southern Lebanon. The pictures we're now getting from the area includes lots of humongous 'booms', smok, fire etc'.
In addition to that: my hometown has being targeted 4 times since morning. The alarm didn't work at the second time, and the area next to where I'm living got bombed. We were surprised and shocked. This time, the missiles were fired at an arab population street. One of the missiles went directly into a house, but thank god that was THE ONLY house which has no people inside it in that specific street.
As I'm writing that post, missiles are being fired towards Haifa area again (the town of Tivon and Ramat Yishay). Gotta make some phone calls now.