The United States is working on a plan to evacuate American citizens from Lebanon to the neighboring island of Cyprus, the U.S. Embassy said Saturday. Complete Story
Israeli warplanes renewed attacks on Lebanon early Saturday, targeting bridges and fuel storage tanks and gas stations in the east and south, security officials said.
The State Department said Friday that Americans in Lebanon should consider leaving when it is safe to do so, and officials made contingency plans for the evacuation of people who cannot leave on their own.
Israel destroyed the home and office of Hezbollah's leader Friday and tightened its seal on Lebanon, blasting its air and road links to the outside world to punish the guerrilla group — and with it, the country — for the capture of two Israeli soldiers.
Israeli warplanes struck the highway linking Beirut to the Syrian capital of Damascus early Friday, but the main artery remains open, Lebanese security officials said.
Israel has held Lebanese leaders responsible for Hezbollah's capture of two soldiers, but the government here says it has no real control over the guerrillas — and taking action to rein them in could tear the country apart.
Israel unleashed a furious military campaign on Lebanon's main airport, highways, military bases and other targets Thursday, retaliating for scores of Hezbollah guerrilla rockets that rained down on Israel and reached as far as Haifa, its third-largest city, for the first time.
Israel intensified its attacks against Lebanon on Thursday, imposing a naval blockade, twice hitting Beirut's airport, and blasting two Lebanese army air bases near Syria. Hezbollah fired more than 100 rockets into Israel, which said one also struck the port city of Haifa.
American tourist Michael Frantel had decided it was time to leave less than 24 hours after starting his vacation in Lebanon. But as he stood at the check-in desk at Beirut's airport, Israeli airstrikes smashed the runways outside.
Israel attacked Beirut's airport for a second time Thursday, with helicopter gunships unleashing missiles that set fuel tanks ablaze at Lebanon's only international air facility, Lebanese security officials said.
Developments in the Israel-Lebanon crisis stemming from the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah.
The European Union on Thursday criticized Israel for using "disproportionate" force in its attacks on Lebanon following the cross-border raid by Hezbollah guerillas who captured two Israeli soldiers.
Israel's bombardment of the Beirut airport Thursday disrupted Middle Eastern air travel and threatened to cripple Lebanon's tourism industry at the start of its busiest season.
Israel's air force is prepared to strike anywhere in Lebanon, including the capital of Beirut, if the Lebanese government fails to rein in Hezbollah guerrillas, the Israeli army chief said Thursday.
Israel on Thursday imposed a sea and air blockade on Lebanon to cut off supply routes to Lebanese militants, the Israeli military said.
Israel intensified its attacks against Lebanon on Thursday, imposing a naval blockade, twice hitting Beirut's airport and blasting two Lebanese army air bases near Syria. Hezbollah fired more than 100 rockets into Israel, which said one also struck the port city of Haifa.
Israeli warplanes struck the runways of Beirut's international airport in the Lebanese capital's Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs, forcing the closure of the facility, police and airport officials said.
Hezbollah's leader vowed that only a prisoner swap will win the release of two Israeli soldiers after a cross-border attack Wednesday that showed the guerrilla group — and its backers Iran and Syria — still have the power to reignite a spiral of violence in the volatile region.
Israel bombed and shelled southern Lebanon and sent ground troops over the border for the first time in six years Wednesday after Hezbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers. Israeli planes attacked the runways of Beirut International Airport early Thursday, Israeli Army Radio reported, starting off a second day of attacks.
A look at major events between Lebanon and Israel:
Hezbollah militants crossed into Israel on Wednesday and captured two Israeli soldiers. Israel responded in southern Lebanon with warplanes, tanks and gunboats, and said eight of its soldiers had been killed in the violence.
Lebanese authorities found maps and bombing plans on the personal computer of an al-Qaida loyalist accused of plotting to attack New York train tunnels, and a U.S. official disclosed that he had visited the country at least once.
Lebanon accused Israel on Thursday of using an aircraft last month to detonate a car bomb that killed two officials of a Palestinian militant group in south Lebanon.
A U.N.-backed investigator reported on Saturday "considerable progress" in his probe of a former Lebanese prime minister's assassination, and said most of his work could be wrapped up in several months.
A burial site in eastern Lebanon originally believed to be a mass grave for victims of Syria's military presence is actually a graveyard dating to the 17th century, a Lebanese prosecutor said in a statement published Wednesday.