Israelis keep up bombing

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Israel continued its bombing barrage today with airstrikes in south Beirut, where the militant Hezbollah group is headquartered, Lebanese police and witnesses said.

The early morning attacks came a day after Israel launched a furious military campaign against Lebanon's air, sea and land routes, and Hezbollah fighters fired more than 100 rockets into Israel in an escalating conflict that left dozens dead and threatened to engulf countries across the Middle East.

Hezbollah rockets fired from Lebanon reached deeper into Israel than ever before. Two of them hit the Mediterranean port of Haifa, Israel's third-largest city, about 30 miles from the border.

Israel bombed Beirut's airport, shutting it down, imposed an air and sea blockade on the country, and struck Lebanese army bases. Late Thursday, Israeli warplanes hit the highway linking Beirut to the Syrian capital of Damascus, further isolating Lebanon from the outside world.

The death toll in two days of fighting has risen to 60 people with the sudden burst of violence sending shock waves through a region already traumatized by Iraq and the ongoing battles in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas. It shattered the relative calm in Lebanon that followed Israel's pullout from its occupied zone in south Lebanon in 2000 and the withdrawal of Syrian forces last year.

Israel's target was Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant Shiite faction that has a free hand in southern Lebanon and also holds seats in parliament. Hezbollah sparked the current conflict Wednesday with a cross-border raid that captured two of Israel's soldiers.

Israel said it was determined to beat Hezbollah back and deny the militant fighters positions they have held along the border since 2000.

The Lebanese government, caught in the middle, pleaded for a cease-fire.

"If the government of Lebanon fails to deploy its forces, as is expected of a sovereign government, we shall not allow Hezbollah forces to remain any further on the borders of the state of Israel," Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said.

Israeli warplanes stepped up the pressure early today. Police and witnesses said strikes targeted a fuel storage tank and southern suburbs where Hezbollah has its political headquarters. Explosions from at least seven missiles were heard by two journalists and other witnesses near the scene. Anti-aircraft fire echoed as Israel jets roared over the capital.