Israel bombs Hezbollah outposts

Israel has carried out air strikes on suspected targets of the Shia militant group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

In the first raid a fighter-bomber fired two missiles in the area of Qsair, six kilometres from the border.

Earlier Hezbollah fighters bombed an Israeli bulldozer in the disputed Shebaa Farms area.

The Israeli army said there were no casualties in the bulldozer bombing. Hezbollah's al-Manar TV said their attack had destroyed the vehicle.

One week ago, the United Nations appealed for restraint by all sides following earlier attacks in the Shebaa Farms in which a French UN monitor, an Israeli soldier and a Hezbollah militant were killed.

Ambulances

The Manar report said Israeli artillery gunners fired dozens of shells in apparent retaliation for the attack, while ambulances were seen rushing to the scene of the attack.

It also reported that two Lebanese women were wounded in the Israeli air strike, but the figure has not been independently confirmed.

An Israeli jet later launched two more missiles into a valley near the western sector of the Israeli border but caused no casualties, Lebanese police said.

About 45 shells were fired in 15 minutes around the villages of Kfar Shuba, Rashaya al-Fakhar, Kfar Hamam and Halta, police said.

Captured from Syria in the 1967 war along with the rest of the strategic Golan Heights, the Shebaa Farms area is now claimed by Lebanon with Syria's blessing.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2005/01/17 17:27:52 GMT