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Israel ratchets up Lebanon campaign

Atul Aneja

Bombing of Beirut-Damascus highway threatens to draw Syria into the escalating conflict

DUBAI: Israel has intensified its air campaign inside Lebanon but showed no signs of mounting a ground offensive to free two of its soldiers captured on Wednesday by a prominent militant group.

The Israeli Air Force mounted a series of attacks after two Katyusha rockets fired from Lebanon exploded on Thursday evening inside Haifa, the country's third largest city.

Hizbullah, which had earlier seized the two Israeli soldiers after a daring cross-border raid, denied responsibility for the Haifa attack. However, the group had earlier warned that it would attack the city, if Israel targeted its southern Beirut strongholds.

Fuel depot bombed

Israeli attack helicopters overnight flew low and bombed a major fuel depot near the airport that was used for fuelling aircraft.

One of the Beirut's two power stations was also hit, causing a partial blackout. Earlier on Thursday, Israeli planes had bombed all the three runways of the Beirut international airport, impairing its functioning. However, the national carrier Middle East Airlines managed to arrange five flights to Cyprus and Jordan to evacuate stranded passengers. On Friday Israel reinforced its attacks on the airport, and one of the rockets fell close to the main terminal building. Israel has claimed that that these steps have been necessary to deny Hizbullah external supplies routed through the airport.

Israeli planes also attacked and killed three persons in southern Beirut where most of the Hizbullah offices and residences are located. Besides, the intruding aircraft also dropped leaflets, urging residents to stay clear of the Hizbullah dominated areas.

In Jerusalem, Israeli interior Minister hinted that Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah could become a target for assassination.

At least 61 persons, mostly civilians have so far died inside Lebanon due to the Israeli bombardment.

Rockets fired

Throughout Friday, Hizbullah continued to fire rockets targeting five Israeli cities, including the bordering Nahariya and Safed.

Nearly 185 rockets have landed in northern Israel in the last 48 hours. So far, eight Israeli soldiers have been killed, while two civilians died during Hizbullah's rocket attacks. More than 60 have been injured.

Israel has tightened its blockade of Lebanon by bombing the international highway linking Damascus with Beirut.

Some of the bridges on this road, which is Lebanon's lifeline, have been blow up. In contrast to Thursday, when vehicles ferrying tourists and residents to Syria caused traffic jams, the highway, on Friday was completely deserted.

The Israeli attack on the highway threatens to draw Syria into the brewing conflict. Lebanese police reported that there had been an Israeli strike on a pro-Syrian Palestinian group, less than 2 km from the Syrian border. Israel has already warned the combination — Syria, Iran, Hizbullah and the Palestinian Hamas — against "playing with fire."

Expressing solidarity with Syria, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said an attack on Damascus would be considered an attack on "the whole Islamic world and this regime will receive a very fierce response." Israel had earlier accused Hizbullah of planning the transfer of the two captured soldiers to Iran.

To defuse the crisis, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is sending his special envoy Vijay Nambiar as the head of a delegation.

The U.N. Security Council is also holding an emergency session to consider Lebanon's demand for a cease-fire.

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