Israeli warplanes strike south of Beirut

BEIRUT – Israeli warplanes struck a target south of Beirut early today, a day after militants fired four rockets into northern Israel, the Israeli military and a Palestinian official said.

The Israeli military said Israeli warplanes targeted “a terror site located between Beirut and Sidon in response” to the rocket attack. It was the first air raid on the area since the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group.

Ramez Mustafa, a Lebanon-based official with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, said the raid occurred at 4 a.m. and caused no casualties or material damage.

He said the warplanes struck the coastal town of Naameh, 10 miles south of Beirut. The Palestinian group is active in the area and has a base there.

An Associated Press photographer in Naameh said the raid targeted a PFLP-GC base in a valley in the town. Lebanese troops in the area prevented journalists from reaching the base.

An Israeli army statement issued after the air raid said: “Yesterday’s attack is a blatant breach of Israeli sovereignty that jeopardized Israeli civilian life. Israel will not tolerate terrorist aggression originating from Lebanese territory.”

On Thursday, militants in Lebanon fired four rockets into Israel, setting off air raid sirens and startling a nation already on edge over turmoil along its northern and southern borders.