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Sharp expansion of Israeli air strikes in Lebanon

Christian heartland attacked for the first time

BEIRUT: Israel pounded Hizbollah's southern Beirut strongholds with missiles early on Friday and, in a sharp expansion of its bombing of Lebanon, blasted highway bridges for the first time in the Christian heartland north of the capital during morning rush hour.

At least 28 farm workers were killed and 12 were wounded on Friday when four Israeli missiles slammed into a refrigerated warehouse near the Lebanon-Syria border on Friday, according to officials at the Syrian hospitals where the dead and wounded were taken.

Four civilians killed

Four civilians and a Lebanese soldier were killed and 19 wounded in the air strikes on bridges north of Beirut early morning, Lebanese security officials said. Another Lebanese soldier was killed and two other soldiers were wounded along with four civilians in air raids near Beirut airport and the southern suburbs of the capital overnight, security officials and witnesses said.

Hizbollah said on Friday its guerillas killed six Israeli soldiers in fierce fighting in the Lebanese border villages of Aita al-Shaab and Markaba.

The Israeli army confirmed a Hizbollah anti-tank missile killed two soldiers and wounded two others in southeastern Lebanon.

In response to the air strikes on the bridges, Hizbollah said it unleashed dozens of long-range rockets on several northern Israeli towns, hitting an Israeli artillery base in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

More than 140 rockets had hit northern Israel by Friday afternoon.

Bridges targeted

An Israeli army spokesman, Capt. Jacob Dallal, said Israel targeted the bridges to stop the flow of weapons from Syria. ``Syria is continuing to arm Hizbollah, and continuing to supply them with missiles and weapons. We are determined to stop this flow of arms to Hizbollah, and our attacks last night were aimed at stopping the flow of weapons to Hizbollah,'' Capt. Dallal said.

South Beirut has been attacked repeatedly by Israeli warplanes since fighting began July 12. It is predominantly Shia Muslim and largely controlled by Hizbollah guerillas.

But surprisingly, Israeli warplanes struck in the Christian areas north of Beirut where Hizbollah has no support and has no presence.

However, it may be part of Israel's attempt to pressure the Lebanese government to accept its conditions for ending the fighting by cutting off Lebanese regions.

Christian areas have largely been spared attacks.

Talks at U.N.

At the United Nations, the U.S. and French Ambassadors remained locked in talks on Friday over the wording of a Security Council resolution on halting the fighting in Lebanon, diplomats said.

But amid mounting international frustration over the pace of negotiations, both delegations imposed a news blackout on events.

There was no indication when the full U.N. Security Council might vote on a resolution but the Ghanaian Ambassador who is the President of the Council for August said the body was ready to meet at any moment. — Agencies

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