Friday, August 23, 2013

Israeli Air Force Bombs Target Near Beirut

latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-israeli-air-force-lebanon-20130822,0,7245735.story

latimes.com

Israeli air force hits target near Beirut

By Edmund Sanders
8:00 PM PDT, August 22, 2013

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli air force attacked a site near Beirut early Friday morning, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

The airstrike was made in response to rockets fired from Lebanon into northern Israel on Thursday, the IDF said on its blog. The pilots reported direct hits on the target between Beirut and Sidon, the site said.

Thursday's rocket barrage was the first such attack from Lebanon to reach Israel in two years. It caused no injuries or significant damage, officials said, though it sent residents in search of shelters.

Israel's Iron Dome missile interception system destroyed one rocket over northern Israel, the IDF reported. As many as three others are believed to have fallen into the sea.

Television video showed destroyed-rocket fragments that had fallen to the ground near Nahariya.

Israeli officials said they believed the rockets were fired by an Al Qaeda-inspired militant group operating from a village south of Tyre, Lebanon. But they said the Lebanese government ultimately was responsible for attacks emanating from its territory.

“This was an unprovoked attack against Israel and its citizens,” military spokesman Peter Lerner said.

The Israel-Lebanon border has remained relatively quiet since a monthlong clash between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah in 2006.

No comments: