Hizbollah rockets rain on northern Israel, kill 1

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

NAHARIYA, Israel, July 13: Hizbollah guerrillas from Lebanon fired barrages of rockets into towns across northern Israel today, killing one civilian and wounding 29 others in their heaviest bombardment in a decade.

Officials ordered residents into bomb shelters and basements as tensions escalated with Lebanon, a day after Hizbollah seized two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in cross-border attacks.

Israel earlier struck Beirut airport and began enforcing a naval blockade of Lebanon, intensifying its reprisals. Israel's attacks have killed 36 Lebanese civilians.

Israel Radio said at least 50 rockets had slammed into towns and villages in northern Israel.

Worst affected was the coastal city of Nahariya, nearly 10 km south of the Lebanese border.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said a 40-year-old woman was killed when one Katyusha rocket hit her apartment in Nahariya.

Medics said 27 people, including children, had been wounded in the city.

Hizbollah said it had fired 60 rockets at Nahariya.

''I had made a cup of coffee ... and was heading toward the staircase when I heard three massive booms,'' said Maya Nir, a resident in one building that was hit.

''My husband hit the floor with our child. Then we just fled,'' she told Israeli television.

One Hizbollah rocket landed in the Israeli town of Zarit, wounding two civilians. Another projectile damaged an Israeli airforce base near Mount Meron, officials said.

Israeli media quoted the army as saying several rockets landed more than 20 km south of the border.

Nahariya Mayor Jackie Sabag said the city had shut down.

''It has been very tough for us this morning, especially since someone was killed,'' Sabag told Israel Radio.

In May, Hizbollah said it had thousands of rockets capable of hitting any target in northern Israel, and maybe beyond, should the Jewish state attack Lebanese territory again.

Hizbollah is backed by Syria and Iran.

Israel vowed yesterday a severe response to Hizbollah's raids.

The violence is the worst between Israel and Lebanon since 1996 when Israeli troops still occupied part of the south.

The Israeli army pulled out of the area in 2000, 22 years after it moved in to fight Palestinian guerrillas who controlled a border strip.

REUTERS

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