Lebanese respond to civilian deaths
Up to 35 dead following Israeli air strike
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Sunday, 30, Jul 2006 07:54
Over 60 civilians were killed today following an Israeli air strike on a village in southern Lebanon.
Reports suggest that 34 children were among the fatalities after Israeli forces struck a three-storey building in the village of Qana, where several houses are also said to have collapsed.
It is thought that around 100 Lebanese citizens were sheltering in the building at the time of the bombing.
Israeli military officials claimed that they had warned local residents to leave Qana ahead of the attack, which they said had been carried out in response to rocket attacks on Israel by the militant Lebanese group Hizbullah.
Responding to the air raid, more rockets were fired into Israel than on any previous day in the 18-day conflict, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) claimed.
In total 140 Katyusha rockets were launched, falling "in a number of areas in the western Negev, Safed, Kiryat Shmona, Akko, and Nahariya", injuring 25 people.
"It must be remembered that as a result of rockets fired at Israel 18 citizens have been killed so far and hundreds injured," the IDF said.
This justification was not accepted by crowds in the Lebanese capital of Beirut. An angry mob sacked the UN headquarters, destroying everything they could find and burning US flags in a frenzy of frustration at the West's failure to enforce a ceasefire.
Elsewhere, the Reuters news agency has reported that Palestinian gunmen have stormed the UN offices in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Lebanese security sources said that Israeli soldiers have crossed the border into Lebanon to the east of the town of Khiam, which has been the scene of heavy fighting.
Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has told US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice that his military requires at least another ten days before it will be satisfied with its operations.
At least 550 Lebanese and 51 Israelis have so far been killed in the conflict, which began on July 12th after Hizbullah insurgents kidnapped two Israeli soldiers during a cross-border raid.