BEIRUT, Lebanon – Israeli warplanes struck Hezbollah guerrilla bases in southern Lebanon late Tuesday, threatening to re-ignite another Arab-Israeli front that has been mostly calm for years.
Israel said it was retaliating for a Hezbollah attack that killed one Israeli soldier and wounded another a day earlier, and said the attacks were intended as a message to Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon.
The United States blamed Hezbollah guerrillas for the escalation and cautioned Syria against giving support to the Lebanese militant group.There was no word on casualties from the airstrikes in a valley six miles north of the Israeli border near the Mediterranean coast, Lebanese security officials said.
One target, a Hezbollah training position, took a direct missile hit and the sound of exploding ammunition was heard in the area, the officials said. They said they couldn’t determine the extent of damage because of the remote location.