Hizbollah rockets strike northern Israel-medics

JERUSALEM, Aug 2: More than 70 rockets fired by Hizbollah guerrillas bombarded towns across northern Israel today, wounding at least 14 people and destroying a house, Israeli police and rescue services said.

The heavy barrage marked a sharp increase in attacks after a two-day lull in activity by the Lebanese militant group.

So many rockets fell on the tourist town of Tiberias, near the Sea of Galilee, that emergency workers said they were unable to reach the scene. Other towns struck included Kiryat Shmona, Nahariya and Safed.

Sirens also sounded in Haifa, Israel's third largest city, which lies about 35 km (20 miles) from the Lebanese border, in anticipation of rocket strikes, rescue services said.

Most of the injuries were light.

In a statement, the Shi'ite militant group said it had fired the rockets into Israel ''after the enemy went too far in targeting civilians'' in Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said today, that Israel's offensive in Lebanon had ''entirely destroyed'' the infrastructure of the Hizbollah guerrilla group.

''I think Hizbollah has been disarmed by the military operation of Israel to a large degree,'' he told Reuters in an interview.

Olmert cited a reduction in the number of rocket attacks on Israel as proof of how badly Hizbollah had been damaged.

Hizbollah has fired more than 1,700 rockets into Israel over the past three weeks, killing at least 18 civilians and wounding hundreds. On some days, more than 100 rockets have landed, although in the past two days fewer than a dozen struck Israel.

Following the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hizbollah in a cross-border raid on July 12, Israel has carried out air strikes and launched ground attacks on Lebanon. At least 644 Lebanese, the majority civilians, have been killed.

REUTERS