BEIRUT, 6 May 2004 — Israeli warplanes bombed southern Lebanon yesterday, shortly after Hezbollah gunners fired on Israeli jets that violated Lebanese airspace, security officials said.
The Lebanese officials in southern Lebanon, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two Israeli fighter jets fired a total of four missiles at a valley near the village of Zibqine, 12 kilometers southeast of the southern port city of Tyre and six kilometers (four miles) north of the Israeli border.
Hezbollah officials in southern Lebanon also said at least four air-to-surface missiles were launched in the afternoon attack.
Black smoke billowed from the area. There was no immediate word on casualties.
The Israeli military commander responsible for the northern border with Lebanon, Maj. Gen. Benny Gantz, accused Hezbollah of deliberately aiming at targets inside Israel.
“This is not anti-aircraft fire. It was carried out under cover of anti-aircraft fire and it was deliberately aimed at our towns and communities,” he told Israeli Army Radio. Gantz indicated yesterday’s response was limited. Asked whether the airstrikes were over, he said: “If Hezbollah keeps the peace, yes.”
In Israel, the army said air force jets “targeted and destroyed” two Hezbollah posts. Pilots reported accurate hits, according to the Israeli military statement.
The Israeli airstrike, the first in southern Lebanon since March, came two hours after Hezbollah anti-aircraft guns fired on Israeli warplanes that flew over southern Lebanon.
Earlier yesterday, the Israeli Army said shells from Hezbollah anti-aircraft fire landed on an Israeli community along the border. It said no one was hurt.
The Lebanese Army command said earlier yesterday that four Israeli fighter jets violated Lebanese airspace over southern and central Lebanon. “Ground anti-aircraft confronted it” before the planes returned to Israel. Lebanon has repeatedly complained to the United Nations about Israeli reconnaissance flights and Hezbollah has made it a policy to retaliate for Israeli overflights by firing anti-aircraft guns at the planes. Some of the shells crash across the border in Israel.
