Army continues massive attack on Hizbullah strongholds in south Beirut, strikes organization's High Council building, its spiritual leader's headquarters, and home of senior Hamas member in city
Smoke drifts across Beirut, Lebanon Saturday, July 15, 2006 following a nighttime Israeli airstrike on the Hezbollah stronghold in the densely-populated southern suburbs. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
The Israel Air Force continues its war against Hizbullah strongholds in Lebanon: Throughout the afternoon and evening hours on Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces continued to attack Hizbullah's stronghold in south Beirut, including Hizbullah's High Council and the organization's headquarters.
An Israeli air strike hits the center of the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon Saturday, July 15, 2006, as Israeli war planes repeatedly blasted the residential area which is a Hezbollah stronghold throughout the day. Israeli warplanes repeatedly blasted Beirut's southern suburbs on Saturday, causing a series of huge blasts, Hezbollah's Al Manar television reported. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
The al-Jazeera network reported that the IDF fired three missiles at the Tripoli port in north Lebanon. The Beirut port was also attacked.
Smoke rises from Tripoli port after being hit by Israeli air strikes, July 15, 2006. Israeli aircraft pounded areas in south, east and northern Lebanon on Saturday, a day after Hizbollah's chief declared an open war against the Jewish state following the bombardment of his stronghold in Beirut. REUTERS/Omar Ibrahim (LEBANON)
Major-General Gadi Eizenkot, head of the General Staff Operations Branch, said in a briefing held at the Kirya base in Tel Aviv that “in the evening hours we destroyed all of Lebanon’s coastal radars. The reason for the radars’ destruction was the part they played in the attack on an Israeli missile boat on Friday, in which one soldier was killed and another three went missing.”
Brigadier-General Noam Page of the Navy said that the IDF was not aware that Hizbullah had in its possession a C802 missile of the type fired at the boat.
“We didn’t know such a missile threat existed in this sector, and therefore we didn’t act accordingly. In wake of the attack, we have instructed all our boats to act against this threat,” he stated.
Hizbullah members struck
During the day, the Air Force struck the offices and homes of three senior Hizbullah members and of a senior Hamas member across Lebanon.
The series of strikes began Saturday afternoon: The Air Force struck the headquarters of Hizbullah's spiritual leader Sheikh Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, which is located in Beirut's southern suburb. The al-Jazeera network reported that the sheikh was not hurt in the attack.
Sheikh Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah was speaking at weekly prayers. "There has to be a change of mindset in ... dealings with America, particularly by withdrawing Arab and Islamic assets from US investments because of new laws, which represent a danger of freezing or confiscation under decisions that spring from September 11," he said. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38226000/jpg/_38226165_sheik-ap-300.jpg&imgrefurl=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2226110.stm&h=180&w=315&sz=9&hl=en&start=3&tbnid=-WURNWXBPTSzpM:&tbnh=67&tbnw=117&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMohammad%2BHussein%2BFadlallah%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG
In addition, IAF aircrafts attacked the office of senior Hamas official Mohammed Nazzal in Beirut. The office was completely destroyed, but sources in Hamas reported that Nazzal was not hurt.
Mohammed Nazzal
On Saturday morning, 23 civilians were killed in an attack on a village in the Tyre area.
Baalbeck targeted
Baalbeck
The IDF struck several targets in the Baalbeck area in the northern Lebanon valley throughout the day. Eyewitnesses reported that the Israeli Air Force attacked about seven times in the region and that an army drone has circled over the area for about four hours.
Lebanese news channel al-Mustakbal reported that one of the strikes was aimed against member of Hizbullah’s High Council, Sheikh Muhammad Yazbek. The report said the Yazbek’s condition was unclear.
Another strike in Baalbeck targeted the house of another senior Hizbullah official, Hussein Mussawi. According to initial reports, at least 20 people were injured in the attack, and it is uncertain whether Mussawi was among them.
Dozens of people were hurt Saturday in the series of IAF strikes in Beirut and Baalbeck.
Hanan Greenberg contributed to the report