Hezbollah rockets pound northern Israel

updated 10:36 p.m. ET Aug. 6, 2006

KFAR GILADI, Israel - A defiant Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with rockets Sunday after rejecting a U.S.-French truce proposal, killing at least 15 people. Israel also struck hard, killing at least 14 in Lebanon as both sides tried to take advantage of the days before a U.N. resolution is put to a vote.

In the deadliest attack on Israelis in this war, a rocket landed Sunday among reservists near the entrance to the communal farm of Kfar Giladi on the Lebanese border. It killed 12 soldiers heading for battle in Lebanon and wounded five, hospital officials said.

Hezbollah rockets also hit Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city, killing three civilians and wounding dozens. Flames shot from damaged homes as firefighters tried to rescue panicked residents.

In Lebanon, the dead included five members of one family crushed in their home by an Israeli air strike. Warplanes attacked near Beirut and in the south, where some villages were bombed continually for a half-hour, security officials said.

Israeli warplanes struck deep in Lebanon early Monday, targeting the northeastern Bekaa Valley, a symbol of Hezbollah power. At least four explosions were heard around the city of Baalbek, witnesses said. There was no immediate word on casualties. Hezbollah has many bases in the Baalbek region, 63 miles north of Israel’s border.

The Israeli Haaretz daily, quoting an unnamed general, said Monday that Israel might hit Lebanese infrastructure and symbols of government in response to the Haifa barrage.

Slide show   Mideast crisis  - July 31 - August 6 Clashes continue between Israel and Hezbollah.

Arab leaders were considering holding an emergency summit on Lebanon in Saudi Arabia later this week, two Lebanese media outlets reported Monday.

The fighting has intensified since the U.S. and France proposed a cease-fire resolution on Saturday which could soon be put to a vote in the U.N. Security Council. Both sides seem intent on inflicting maximum damage on each other before the vote.

Hezbollah and its chief allies, Iran and Syria, rejected the draft resolution because it does not call for an immediate Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and does not address other Lebanese demands.

Mohammed Fneish, one of two Hezbollah members of the Lebanese Cabinet, said Saturday the militant group would not abide by a cease-fire resolution while Israeli troops remain on Lebanese territory.

Some 10,000 Israeli soldiers are fighting several hundred Hezbollah gunmen in that area, trying to track and destroy rocket launchers. Israel says it won’t leave until a multinational force has been deployed.

Resupply concerns
Israel has refused to comment on the draft. But Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev told Associated Press Television News, “We have to make sure that what will be negotiated at the United Nations ensures that Hezbollah will not be allowed to be resupplied by Iran or Syria.”

The U.S.-French plan envisions a second resolution in a week or two that would authorize an international military force and create a buffer zone in south Lebanon.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the measure “the first step, not the only step.”

The proposed resolution says the two Israeli soldiers held by Hezbollah should be released unconditionally. The soldiers’ capture July 12 triggered the war.

Hezbollah has fired more than 3,000 rockets at Israel since the fighting began and dozens hit on Sunday, Israeli officials said. Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes have struck hundreds of targets across Lebanon.

The attack on Kfar Giladi was “a direct hit on a vehicle where there was a crowd. They were all wounded and scattered in every direction, some of them were in very bad condition,” said Eli Peretz, a medic. “It was a very, very difficult scene. I have never seen anything like it.”

Bloodied army boots were placed on a stone wall. The rocket scorched two parked cars.

Hearing of the slain reservists, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a Cabinet meeting, “Lucky that we are dealing with Hezbollah today, and not in another two or three years,” according to a participant.

Later Sunday, a rocket barrage hit the northern port city of Haifa, killing three civilians, injuring more than 40 and bringing down two buildings. A crowded residential district took five or six hits.

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