Israelis strike Lebanese base

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Israeli warplanes struck deep into Lebanon, blasting a Palestinian militant base south of the capital in what Israel said was retaliation for a rocket attack on an Israeli naval boat earlier Monday.

The attack was the closest Israeli strike to Beirut since Israel withdrew its troops from Lebanon in May 2000, ending nearly 20 years of occupation of part of south Lebanon.

Lebanese officials said the Israeli planes fired at least four rockets at targets in the hills at Naameh, about five miles south of Beirut. Palestinian guerrillas of the Syrian-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command maintain an underground base in the Naameh hills.

The Israeli military did not identify the type of aircraft or ordnance used, but it confirmed the target was a PFLP-GC base and said it stored weapons.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

A PFLP-GC official, Abu Rushdi, said the base no longer had a military purpose and the staff had left hours before the strike. He said Israel attacked it to “put pressure on Lebanon and Syria for their support of the (Palestinian) resistance.”

The attack came several hours after rockets were fired toward Israel from south Lebanon.