Israel strikes at heart of Beirut
Pastor Dale Morgan
Israel strikes at heart of Beirut*
Hezbollah attack kills 2 Israeli civilians; U.N. vote delayed
Thursday, August 10, 2006 Posted: 1841 GMT (0241 HKT)
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Israel ratcheted up its fight against Hezbollah
on Thursday, beginning operations aimed at the heart of Beirut, dropping
warning leaflets and taking control of a largely Christian southern
Lebanese town.
The Israel Defense Forces targeted sites in Beirut proper, hitting a
lighthouse used as a cell phone communications tower, said CNN's Jim
Clancy from the scene.
Witnesses said they saw a man being loaded into an ambulance at the
scene. There was no immediate information on his condition.
The area, located in an upscale neighborhood where slain former Lebanese
Prime Minister Rafik Hariri lived, is outside the Hezbollah-dominated
southern suburbs that Israeli forces have targeted up to now.
The Israeli military also dropped leaflets in Beirut, warning of
expanded operations inside the capital and urging people in southern
Shiite neighborhoods to evacuate. Those neighborhoods have been bastions
of support for Hezbollah.
"To the people who live in Hay El Soulom, Borj El Barajneh, Shiyah ...
For your safety," one flier warned.
"You must evacuate these areas immediately and evacuate any area from
where Hezbollah and its members or their assistants are launching their
terrorist operations.
"Be aware!"
Also receiving warning leaflets from Israel were northern Lebanese towns
including El Beddaoui, Lebanese Internal Security Forces said.
Those leaflets warned that Israel will target any type of truck moving
along the coastal road.
"Be aware that anybody using pick-ups or trucks puts his life in
danger," one leaflet warned.
The leaflets said such vehicles will be targeted under suspicion of
"transporting rockets, military ammunitions and terrorists."
North of Beirut, three Israeli rockets launched from the sea also hit
three state radio towers, Lebanese police said. Those towers already
have been targets of attacks during the conflict.
By afternoon, Hezbollah had sent 136 rockets into northern Israel
Thursday, police said.
One Katyusha rocket struck the village of Deir al Assad, where
civilians, including a child, were killed, Israeli ambulance services said.
Another rocket struck Kriot in the northern suburbs of Haifa, Israel,
authorities said.
The strike on Haifa came a day after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah
urged Israeli Arabs in the city, Israel's third-largest to leave, lest
Muslim blood be shed. (Full story)
To date, Hezbollah has fired 3,333 rockets into northern Israel, Israeli
authorities report.
More than 950 people have died in the conflict so far, authorities in
both countries said. Most have been Lebanese civilians.
Annan presses Security Council for plan
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan pushed the Security Council on
Thursday to come up with a plan by week's end for ending the conflict.
In a statement issued early Thursday afternoon, Annan's office said he
is working "very intensely" on reaching a resolution acceptable to both
Israel and Lebanon, and he repeated his call to end the fighting and
"save civilians on both sides from the nightmare they have endured for
the past four weeks."
"The secretary-general believes that it ought to be possible for the
Security Council to adopt a resolution by the end of the week," his
office said.
Meanwhile, the United Nations warned of a major food crisis in Lebanon,
saying that the displacement of nearly a million people has coincided
with the country's main cereal harvest.
Of the 915,000 people the U.N. estimates to be internally displaced in
Lebanon, 45 percent are children, it said.
Fighting has disrupted the delivery of food, fuel and medical supplies
and devastated much of the country's infrastructure, and the U.N. said
100,000 people in southern Lebanon won't be receiving vital relief.
The emergency coordinator for the U.N. World Food Program, Zlatan
Milisic, said no aid has been able to reach areas south of Sidon.
A relief convoy planned for Nabatiya was denied IDF approval, said Milisic.
Southern Lebanese town under Israel control
In southern Lebanon, Israeli forces took control of the largely
Christian town of Marjeyoun, CNN has learned.
Israeli troops had warned residents to remain in their homes as forces
moved toward the nearby town of Blatt, Lebanese military intelligence
and police said.
The secured area overlooks the Litani River, where Hezbollah fighters
have reportedly launched rockets into Israel, sources said.
Hezbollah announced "violent battles" in Marjeyoun, and Arab news
networks Al-Manar and Al Arabiya reported at least two Israeli tanks
were destroyed in fighting there.
While Lebanese intelligence said Israeli troops did not experience any
resistance during their advance there, Lebanese military sources and
U.N. observers described a vicious battle in Khiyam, which Israel said
is a Hezbollah stronghold. (Full story)
An Israeli government spokeswoman said the offensive was not part of an
expanded campaign that Israel's Security Cabinet had approved earlier in
the day. The plan -- which entails an Israeli push up to the Litani
River, 18 miles inside Lebanon -- is awaiting final approval from Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz, according to
Olmert's office. (Watch the Israeli military rachet up its operations on
the border -- 2:47)
Diplomats meanwhile were trying to reconcile differences over a
U.S.-France plan to end the conflict. A sticking point remains a
Lebanese call for Israel's immediate withdrawal from southern Lebanon, a
move Israel says it won't make without guarantees of its border security.
Senior Bush administration officials have said that a Thursday vote at
the United Nations is unlikely.
Since the conflict began, 834 Lebanese have been killed and more than
3,200 wounded, Lebanese security forces said Thursday. The Israel
Defense Forces reported that 122 Israelis, including 40 civilians, have
been killed, and nearly 900 wounded.
The conflict was sparked when Hezbollah militants crossed the border
into Israel, killed three Israeli soldiers and kidnapped two others,
prompting Israel's military response in Lebanon.
On a separate front, the Gaza-Egypt border crossing is closing until
further notice, Israel said Thursday, citing specific security alerts.
Israel has been stepping up its offensive against Palestinians since the
kidnapping of one of its soldiers by Palestinian militants.
CNN's Jim Clancy, John King, Elise Labott, Karl Penhaul and John Vause
contributed to this report.