Israel blockades Lebanon, kills 53 civilians

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http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2006/July/middleeast_July243.xml§ion=middleeast

BEIRUT - Israel blockaded Lebanese ports and struck Beirut airport and two military airbases on Thursday, expanding reprisals that have killed 53 civilians in Lebanon since Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers a day earlier.

Hizbollah fighters rained more than 80 rockets on northern Israel in their heaviest bombardment in a decade, hitting Israel’s third largest city, Haifa, the Israeli army said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in Haifa, a major port of 250,000 people. One woman was killed and 43 people wounded in the other rocket attacks, Israeli medics said.

The violence was the fiercest since 1996 when Israeli troops still occupied part of south Lebanon. It coincided with a major Israeli offensive into the Gaza Strip to try to retrieve a captured soldier and halt Palestinian rocket fire.