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Beirut: Israel says it has imposed a blockade on Lebanon's ports as the conflict over two soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah escalated further. Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport has already been closed after Israeli jets struck two of the runways with missiles on Thursday morning. Israel says it targetted the airport as it is a major hub for the transporting of Hezbollah weapons. An Israeli helicopter gunship also fired upon the Hezbollah run Al Manar television station, which is situated in the Shiite suburb of Haret Hreik. Six people were injured in the strike, including one employee at the station but the station is still on the air. Israeli jets have also damaged roads and bridges leading in and out of the Lebanese capital as well as in the south of the country.
Lebanese security officials said that 26 civilians had been killed and dozens more wounded by air raids in the south of the country. Police sources claim that 10 of the deaths were when a missile hit the house of a Shiite Lebanese shaikh, killing his wife and eight children.
Hezbollah fighters have responded by firing dozens into Israel, with at least two hitting the northern Israeli city of Nahariya, wounding three civilians. Hezbollah also said it had fired 60 rockets at Nahariya, a coastal city south of the Israel/Lebanon border. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Wednesday night that the two soldiers had been seized to force Israel to release prisoners, but Israel says the attack was an act of war and that it would not swap prisoners for the three snatched soldiers. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said his government had not known of the Hizbollah attack and did not endorse it or accept responsibility.
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