20 children among Israeli raid dead

'20 children' among Israeli raid dead

Sun | Jul 30, 06 | 05:13:19 PM
Oleh Al-Jazeera

QANA, July 30 - At least 20 children are believed to be among more than 40 civilians killed after an Israeli raid destroyed a building in the southern Lebanese town of Qana, Aljazeera's correspondent reports.


Lebanese media reported that dozens of people remain trapped inside the three-storey building which was sheltering several families, some of whom had fled the Israeli bombardment of the Lebanese coastal town of Tyre.


Yasir Abu Hilala, Aljazeera's correspondent in Qana, said aid workers had only managed to pull out three people alive.


Efforts to get the wounded to hospital have been hampered as all roads around Qana have been destroyed by Israeli air strikes, he said.


The Israeli army has rejected responsibility for the deaths, saying that Hezbollah bore the blame because it used the village as a site for launching rockets.


However Hasan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah MP, told Aljazeera that Israel had committed "a new massacre".


"This massacre will enhance the Lebanese people's determination to endure Israeli aggression and will increase the [Hezbollah] resistance's determination to confront this enemy," he said.


"Israel is mistaken and deceived if it believes it can break the will of the Lebanese people in this way."


New offensive
The attack came as Hezbollah fighters battled Israeli forces making a new thrust into southern Lebanon, Lebanese security sources said on Sunday.

Fighting erupted when Israeli forces crossed the border from the Israeli village of Metula towards the town of Khiam following aircraft and artillery strikes.


The Israeli army said a new wave of Hezbollah rockets hit the Israeli towns of Nahariya, Kiryat Shemona and an area close to Maalot, although no injuries were reported.


An Israeli missile strike hit the main Lebanese border crossing into Syria on Sunday, forcing it to close for the first time since the conflict began more than two weeks ago.


Israeli fighter jets fired three missiles at the Masnaa crossing, which lies about 300m beyond a Lebanese customs post. No casualties were reported in the strike.


The passage has been a vital escape route for tens of thousands of Lebanese fleeing the fighting into Syria after Israel bombed Beirut airport.


Buried bodies
The bodies of eight civilians were found near Tyre following Israeli missile strikes on Saturday, Salam Daher, the Lebanese civil defence chief, said.


Rescue workers say dozens more civilians, including a large number of children, are still buried underneath the rubble of houses destroyed in attacks around the city.


The Lebanese health minister has said the recovery of bodies in the south could raise the death toll from the fighting.


Up to 600 Lebanese people, mainly civilians, are thought to have died in the offensive, while 51 Israelis have also been killed since Israel launched its offensive in mid-July following the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers and rocket attacks by Hezbollah fighters.


The Israeli military also said on Saturday it had hit several Hezbollah targets, including a missile launchpad it suspected was used to fire a new type of missile that landed in the northern Israeli town of Afula.


Missiles and shells were fired into the Bekaa Valley targeting a bridge and vehicles, Aljazeera's correspondent said, while Israeli forces pulled back from positions on the outskirts of the Lebanese border town of Bint Jbeil, where nine Israeli soldiers died last week.


Tanks and armoured vehicles left the hills overlooking the town and returned to Marun al-Ras, which was captured by Israeli forces on July 23, police said.


Israel has also continued to bombard Bint Jbeil and nearby Aitarun from Marun al-Ras.


An Israeli army spokeswoman said Israeli troops "have modified their deployment because of the developments on the ground". - mks.

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World News: From New Trend's Media Monitor

HIZBULLAH VICTORY means U.S-Israeli Terror Plot has Failed:

After being defeated in Bint Jbeil, the Israeli terror group, IDF, retreated on July 29 back to the Israeli border. The retreat came after three days of intense shelling and bombing of Bint Jbeil by the terror group IDF. The Jews realized that Hizbullah is firmly in control and Jewish terror activity cannot end the resistance.

Meanwhile, Israel has called up 30,000 reservists and will probably try again if it sees any signs of weakening in Hizbullah.