Israel bombarded Lebanon for a sixth day yesterday and dismissed Lebanese media reports that an Israeli aircraft had been shot down over Beirut.
Lebanese TV stations had reported that an Israeli military aircraft had gone down near Beirut, but there was no confirmation from Lebanese officials.
Lebanese Broadcasting Corp showed footage of a burning object crashing into the ground in the Jamhour district near the Hezbollah stronghold of southern Beirut, which has been under Israeli air attack for several days.
Israel's Channel 10 TV reported that the object shown on Lebanese television was apparently a container of leaflets that fell from an Israeli military plane. Israel has been dropping propaganda leaflets over areas of Lebanon during its incursion, sometimes in a bid to warn residents of an impending strike.
Israeli warplanes hit coastal targets in the north and south, struck Beirut and damaged homes in the east belonging to members of the Hezbollah guerrilla group, which fired more rockets deep into the Jewish state.
Overnight raid
An Israeli army spokesman also said some soldiers had crossed the border overnight to destroy Hezbollah positions but denied Israel had ground troops inside southern Lebanon.
"There are no Israeli ground forces in Lebanon," he said. "There was a very small incursion overnight to destroy a few Hezbollah positions ... That has been done."
The fighting, the worst since Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, was triggered when Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran and is part of the Lebanese government, seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on northern Israel last week.
Army Radio quoted Israel's chief of staff as saying Israel planned to enforce a 1km "security zone" to keep Hezbollah away from the border.
Hezbollah is seeking the release of Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. It has not commented on international efforts to halt the fighting.
Echoing a muted call from the G8 powers on Sunday, the EU urged all sides yesterday to rein in violence, but stopped short of demanding an immediate ceasefire.
French President Jacques Chirac called Israeli actions in Lebanon "aberrant."
Israel's campaign has killed 179 people, all but 13 of them civilians, and wounded more than 500.
Twenty-four Israelis have been killed in the fighting, including 12 civilians hit in rocket attacks.
Israeli raids yesterday destroyed two army posts on the northern Lebanese coast, killing at least six Lebanese soldiers, and damaged the homes of Hezbollah officials in eastern Lebanon, killing 11 people in over 60 strikes.
Seven more people died in strikes south of Beirut, including one on a coastal road linking it to the port city of Sidon.
Haifa closed
Meanwhile, Israel closed its port in the northern city of Haifa yesterday in the wake of Hezbollah rocket attacks from Lebanon, the Transport Ministry said. The port is one of the country's key shipment points.
"At this stage, we decided to stop docking of ships until the next assessment tomorrow due to continued fire at Haifa," said Avner Ovadiah, a ministry spokesman.
Some shipments had already been diverted to the port of Ashdod in the south.
RSS