Violence flares on Lebanon-Israel border

LUCI, Lebanon, May 28 (Reuters) Israeli jets attacked Syrian-backed Palestinian and Lebanese guerrillas in Lebanon today, sparking gunbattles on the volatile border hours after rockets fired into northern Israel wounded an Israeli soldier.

At least one Palestinian militant and a Lebanese Hizbollah fighter were killed in one of the worst bouts of violence since Israeli troops ended a 22-year occupation of south Lebanon six years ago.

The Israeli army ordered residents living in northern areas to go to the bomb shelters after a clash between Hizbollah and Israeli soldiers near Kibbutz Menara and mortar and rocket fire into northern Israel, Israeli security sources said.

Hizbollah guerrillas, backed by Syria and Iran, also attacked Israeli posts in the disputed Shebaa Farms border area, Lebanese witnesses said.

Witnesses said areas near the Lebanese towns of Rmeish, Aita, Yaroun, Mais al-Jabal, Marjayoun and Ghajar, along different parts of the border with Israel, were hit by Israeli aircraft and artillery.

The Israeli army said those attacks targeted suspected Hizbollah positions in southern Lebanon in response to ''a large scale attack on Israeli communities and military bases in northern Israel''.

''Let there be no doubt that we will deal a very painful blow to whoever tries to disrupt life along our northern border,'' Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Israeli television.

''I think those taking part in this fire have miscalculated. They will receive an unequivocal and very aggressive response without hesitation if they don't stop.'' Hours earlier Israeli warplanes struck a military base just outside Beirut and another in the eastern Bekaa Valley, both run by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), which is based in Damascus.

Palestinian militants at the base near the eastern village of Luci fired automatic rifles and anti-aircraft guns at the planes, while the Lebanese army said its anti-aircraft units responded to the attack on the Naameh base near Beirut.

One of the bases, which consist of tunnels dug into the hills, was used to store arms.

TIT-FOR-TAT The clashes came two days after a senior Islamic Jihad official and his brother were killed in southern Lebanon in a car bombing the Palestinian group blamed on Israel.

Hizbollah, which controls the Lebanese side of the border, also blamed Israel for the car blast in the port of Sidon, and Islamic Jihad vowed revenge.

It was not clear who fired the rockets into northern Israel on Sunday. Hizbollah, which sporadically attacks Israeli posts in the disputed Shebaa Farms, condemned the Israeli strikes on the Palestinian bases but had no comment on the ensuing clashes.

''Hizbollah... considers what happened as part of Israel's targeting of security and stability in Lebanon,'' the Shi'ite Muslim guerrilla group said in a statement.

''These enemy raids are a violation of Lebanon's sovereignty and independence and an assault on its territories.'' The group, which is under international pressure to disarm, said this week that it had thousands of rockets able to hit any target in northern Israel should the Jewish state attack Lebanese territory again.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said earlier that Israel planned to lodge a complaint with the U.N. Security Council over the initial rocket attack on the town of Safed.

''This attack demonstrates clearly the need to move expeditiously in implementing U.N. Security Council resolutions 1559 and 1680 that call for the disarming of all the armed militia in Lebanon,'' Regev said. ''As long as these extremist groups remain armed, they will be a threat to stability.'' Reuters CH DB2034