CNN - Six civilians die in Israeli rocket attack

Six civilians die in Israeli rocket attack

April 13, 1996
Web posted at: 2:05 p.m. EDT (1805 GMT)

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- An Israeli air attack aimed at Shiite Muslim militants in south Lebanon killed six civilians, including four youngsters, Saturday morning when a rocket struck an ambulance near the port city of Tyre.

Also, Israeli gunboats imposed a naval blockade on Beirut Saturday as planes and artillery pounded Hezbollah positions for a third day.

Lebanese security sources said Israeli warships intercepted and ordered commercial vessels to stay 12 miles off Beirut in the Mediterranean. The Israeli navy also blockaded the southern ports of Sidon and Tyre.

As promised by Lebanon Foreign Minister Faris Bweiz, his country lodged a formal complaint with the U.N. Security Council over the Israeli attacks and asked for a special session of the 22-nation Arab League to address the latest wave of violence along the Lebanon-Israel border.

The ambulance was struck during air attacks against the village of Hinniyh, just south of Tyre, sources said. Israeli warplanes fired rockets against other villages in the area as well. At least two people were wounded.

Lebanese security sources said the ambulance belonged to the Islamic Message Scouts, an affiliate of Shiite political groups. According to one report, there were two dead women inside the ambulance. A dead child about 3 years of age lay on the stomach of one of the women. Three young girls also were killed.

An Israeli air strike Friday killed one Syrian soldier and wounded seven others stationed in Lebanon, prompting fears that Syria could join the fighting. Israel stressed that the Syrian forces were inadvertently attacked.

"We are targeting neither the Lebanese army nor the Syrian Army," said Israeli government spokesman Uri Dromi. "Unfortunately, the Syrian army is all over the place."

Israel began its attacks, which included two days of air strikes against Beirut's southern suburbs, on Thursday in retaliation for Hezbollah rocket attacks against northern Israel.

By the Lebanese police count, 19 people have been killed and 77 wounded in this week's hostilities. The figure includes an Israeli soldier killed and two wounded in a south Lebanon ambush as well as 40 Israeli civilians injured in cross-border rocket barrages.

Residents on both sides of the border are fleeing their homes by the tens of thousands as Hezbollah guerrillas continue to launch Katyusha rockets at northern Israel in response to the attacks. Friday's rainstorms and the almost continual shelling slowed the progress of refugees from the area.

"People are trying to leave but they can't because the shelling continues, so they are trying to take refuge at U.N. positions," said Timor Goksel, a spokesman for the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Simon Peres said the attacks would continue until Hezbollah stopped its rocket attacks. Lebanon's Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, said only an Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon would stop "the vicious circle."

Israel pledges continued attacks on Lebanon - April 12
Israel repeats strikes on Beirut - April 12
Transcript of interview with Prime Minister Rafic Al-Hariri of Lebanon about recent bombings - April 12
Cycle of retaliation, counter-retaliation heats up in Mideast - April 12
Israel's war against Hezbollah moves to Beirut - April 11
Israeli forces strike Beirut - April 11

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Six civilians die in Israeli rocket attack

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