Israel strikes back after boy dies in shelling

Israeli warplanes attacked suspected guerrilla positions in southern Lebanon today, hours after Hezbollah militants shelled an Israeli town, killing a 16-year-old boy and lightly injuring five others, including a baby.

Lebanese security officials said Israeli warplanes fired at least one missile at an area near the village of Teir Harfa, about 3 kilometres (2 miles) from the Lebanese-Israeli border. There was no immediate word on casualties.

The Israeli military said fighter planes hit Hezbollah artillery positions that shelled the northern Israeli town of Shlomi earlier today. Hezbollah fired three 57 mm anti-tank shells at Shlomi, said a senior Israeli security official.

A 16-year-old boy was killed, said Ziv Farber, a spokesman for the hospital in nearby Nahariya. He said five others were lightly hurt by shrapnel, including a mother and her 9-month-old boy. The baby suffered scratches on his face, Farber said.

Video footage from Shlomi showed paramedics treating victims on the ground and patches of blood on a concrete stairway. Israel Radio identified the dead teenager as Haviv Dadon.

Town mayor Gavriel Naaman said one shell exploded near a pre-school and another hit near a shopping centre. He said he ordered residents to remain in their homes in case there are other strikes.

The death was the first of a civilian in such an attack along the northern Israeli border since June 24, 1999, when a Katyusha rocket fired by Hezbollah guerrillas struck the city hall of Kiryat Shemona and killed two men standing in front of the building.

Hezbollah said it had fired anti-aircraft shells at Israeli fighter jets flying over southern Lebanon, but Israeli security officials denied aircraft were in the area at the time.

The Lebanese militant group, which is backed by Iran and Syria, routinely responds to Israeli air force flights over Lebanon with anti-aircraft fire, but tensions have worsened in recent days.

A senior military source said Israel’s inner security Cabinet would meet today to discuss a further military response, and that more strikes could be expected.

Raanan Gissin, an aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said Israel would choose “the time, the place and the method of our response.”

“Israel has no intention of escalation,” he said, but added: “Israel will not tolerate any escalation of this sort that causes the death of its citizens along the border.”

On Friday, Israel and Hezbollah exchanged artillery fire over a disputed area near the confluence of the Syrian, Lebanese and Israeli borders – the first such exchange in eight months.

Hezbollah said the shelling was in retaliation for the killing on August 2 of Hezbollah security official Ali Hussein Saleh by a bomb in his car south of Beirut. Hezbollah blamed Israel for his death. Israel refused to comment. ”Israel does not relate to such cases,” Gissin said.

Anti-aircraft shells also fell yesterday on the northern town of Kiryat Shemona, but no injuries were reported.