LEBANON: Israeli warplanes fire missiles at commercial building, as troops thrust deeper into south

Israeli warplanes fired missiles at a commercial building in Tyre, housing a Hizbollah charity on Saturday (August 12, 2006.) The building was empty at the time of the strike, witnesses said. "They bombed this building but no one was inside. It is a building housing charities, clinics and offices," said Tyre resident Abbas Mahfouz. The attack on Tyre came as Israeli force reached a village 11 km (seven miles) inside southern Lebanon, the deepest thrust yet in Israel's ground offensive against Hizbollah, security sources said. Hizbollah, acknowledging the advance, said its guerrillas ambushed the force in the village of Ghandouriyeh east of the port city of Tyre. It said a number of Israeli soldiers were killed and wounded. The U.N. Security Council authorised a deployment of 15,000 foreign troops to help Lebanon's army halt the month-long war in the Mideast. The council unanimously adopted a resolution on Friday (August 11), calling for a "cessation of hostilities" in the war between Israel and Lebanon's Hizbollah that has killed some 1,000 Lebanese and 123 Israelis and displaced more than 1 million people. The measure, negotiated by the United States and France, envisions a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon when violence subsides and 15,000 Lebanese army troops along with the U.N. peacekeepers begin to deploy. Residents of Tyre, which have been cut off from the north due to a ban on movement and on-going air raids, said Israel will not respect the security council resolution. "Israel does not respect any law. This morning it attacked Tyre. It targets civilians because it cannot stand up against troops and the resistance, so it targets civilians," said Mohammed Ibrahim. "The security council is under pressure from the United States and from Britain and this is the problem. If the security council was independent, the war would not have lasted a month. But we hope there will be more pressure. We have hope," said Ali Kakhouri, another resident. Lebanon's cabinet, which includes two Hizbollah ministers, was expected to formally endorse the resolution on Saturday and the Israeli cabinet was expected to do the same on Sunday, officials from both countries said.

ITN Source | August 13, 2006

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