Haifa struck by rocket as crisis deepens
Israel fights on two fronts for release of soldiers
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Thursday, 13, Jul 2006 05:00
The northern Israeli industrial coastal city of Haifa has been struck by a rocket, which seems to have fulfilled threats made by militant Lebanese group Hizbullah earlier in the day.
However, the Shia Muslim group has denied firing the missile, despite launching rockets throughout the day into Israeli territory.
Haifa was previously though to be outside of the militant's firing range, being almost 20 miles from the Lebanese border, but even though there are no reported casualties from this latest incident, Danny Ayalon, the Israeli US ambassador, said the Haifa explosion represented a "major, major escalation" in the growing crisis.
The Israeli army has been stepping up its military offensives in southern Lebanon, leading to at least 50 deaths, while it also continues to blockade the country's major ports and its only international airport.
Israel maintains that the Lebanese government is ultimately responsible for the kidnapping of two of its soldiers by Hizbullah militants earlier this week, in border raids in which eight military personnel lost their lives.
The navy has entered ports up and down the country, while the army has blockaded Beirut airport, Lebanon's sole international gateway.
The Jewish state is also fighting Palestinian militants in Gaza, with the fate of abducted Corporal Gilad Shalit still unknown.
"Since this morning, Israeli naval vessels have enforced a full naval closure on Lebanon because Lebanon's ports are used to transfer both terrorists and weapons to the terror organisations operating in Lebanon," confirmed a military spokesman.
The Hizbullah kidnappings are being seen by many as a deliberate attempt by Muslim insurgents to further heighten tensions in the Middle East, following Cpl Gilad Shalit's capture in a cross-border raid by Palestinian militants over two weeks ago.
Israeli aircraft, artillery and gunboats launched a series of strikes on targets in Lebanon early this morning, including bridges south of Beirut.
Lebanese security sources said that a Lebanese policeman was killed and five civilians injured in the attacks, while Hizbullah militants have responded by firing rockets and missiles into the Israeli town of Nahariya, killing one and wounding at least 14 others.
Hizbullah sources have indicated that they will launch a full-scale assault on the coastal town of Haifa if Israel continues to attack Beirut, with Israel warning residents of the capital's outlying regions to evacuate.
Yesterday Israeli air strikes targeted suspected Hizbullah posts and bridges, after the group revealed it had kidnapped the two Israeli soldiers, now identified by Israeli army officials as Ehud Goldwasser and Elgad Regev.
The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, has vowed that Hizbullah militants will "pay a dear price for their actions" describing the attacks as an "act of war".
Both Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbullah and the hard-line Palestinian movement Hamas are demanding that Israel releases Muslim prisoners in exchange for the safe return of the Israeli soldiers that they are separately holding.
A separate Israeli air strike destroyed the Palestinian foreign ministry in Gaza early today, with Palestinian medics claiming that at least ten people, including several children, were injured.
The strike, which occurred at about 01:30 local time (22:30 BST yesterday), destroyed the third and fourth floors of the ministry and damaged surrounding vehicles and buildings.
The Israeli military confirmed that it had carried out the strike on the ministry because of its association with Hamas, the militant Palestinian ruling party.
At least 24 Palestinians were reportedly killed yesterday in the worst day of fighting in the region since Cpl Shalit's adduction, as opposition to the Israeli incursion of the Gaza Strip intensifies.