Cable News Network
BEIRUT, Lebanon, July 16: Israeli airstrikes pounded the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sunday, hours after a rocket attack on Haifa killed eight Israelis.
The militant group Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack on Haifa, saying it was responding to overnight Israeli airstrikes inside Lebanon.
Shortly after Haifa was hit, the head of Israel's northern command, Maj. Gen. Udi Adam, warned civilians in southern Lebanon to head north because "in two or three hours we are going to attack south Lebanon heavily."
CNN's Alessio Vinci described the scene in the southern part of Beirut as "utter destruction," with buildings collapsed and large areas devastated.
The Israeli military said the airstrikes hit buildings where Hezbollah members lived and worked.
The Associated Press reported Israeli airstrikes reduced entire apartment buildings to rubble and knocked out electricity in areas of Beirut.
Earlier, journalist Anthony Mills said he heard at least six bombings near the Lebanese capital between 11 a.m. and noon (4 a.m. and 5 a.m. ET).
Lebanese security sources said on Sunday that 90 civilians and three soldiers have been killed and 262 have been wounded since Wednesday.
A total of 12 Israeli civilians and 12 Israeli military personnel have been killed since Wednesday. More than 100 others have been wounded.
Meanwhile, a U.S. military team has arrived in Beirut to assist in the evacuation of Americans trapped in Lebanon by the fighting, the U.S. Embassy confirmed.
In the attack on Haifa, one of the Hezbollah rockets hit a railway depot in the city's industrial zone, killing at least eight and wounding 17 others -- six of them seriously -- Israeli medical services said.
Israeli Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz said the missile contained Syrian ammunition.
"The Iranians supply Hezbollah with weapons and technology," said Mofaz, Israel's former defense minister. "Syria is taking part."
The weapon was a Katyusha rocket with a range of 35 to 40 kilometers (22-25 miles), Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman Miri Regev said.
Iran rejected a similar Israeli assertion that it supplied Hezbollah the missile that struck an Israeli warship off the coast of Lebanon on Friday, killing four Israeli sailors.
The Israeli military found the bodies of three of the sailors Sunday. The body of the fourth sailor had been found the day before.
Sunday's attack was the second time Haifa has been hit since Israel and Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon began trading fire Wednesday.
There were no casualties in Thursday's rocket attack, which Israel said marked the first time rockets have hit so deeply in Israeli territory.
Haifa, about 30 miles from the Lebanon border, is Israel's third-largest city.
Hezbollah denied its rockets struck Haifa on Thursday, but claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack in a statement on Al Manar television.
Hezbollah said it fired "tens" of Raad-2 and Raad-3 rockets at Haifa in retaliation for overnight airstrikes on the militant group's stronghold in southern Beirut and on Lebanon's infrastructure.
Hezbollah said it was targeting an oil refinery complex inside Haifa's industrial zone, which is near the railway depot that was hit.
A short time after the deadly attack, another barrage of rockets hit Haifa, according to the Israeli military. No casualties were reported, Israeli medical services said.
Rockets also hit the northern towns of Akko and Nahariya on Sunday, and residents of northern Israel were told to take cover in bomb shelters.
The Israeli military warned residents as far south as Tel Aviv to raise their level of awareness, as the country is on alert against conventional weapons, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
The Israeli military said Hezbollah has fired more than 450 rockets into northern Israel since Wednesday.
Speaking before his weekly Cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the attack "will have far-reaching implications" on Israel's relationship with its "northern neighbors."
A spokesman for the Italian government said Lebanon has been given a list of Israeli conditions for a cease-fire that includes the release of two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah, the withdrawal of Hezbollah from south Lebanon and an end to rocket attacks on Israel.
The conditions were relayed to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora in a phone call by Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, according to Italian spokesman Silvio Sircana.
Israel warplanes hit Beirut suburbs
Israeli forces bombed the Jiyeh power plant south of the Lebanese capital early Sunday, sending plumes of smoke billowing across the sky, Lebanese army sources said.
The sources said they had no report on casualties in the strike.
Israeli warplanes were blasting the southern suburbs of Beirut in an attempt to destroy Hezbollah strongholds.
Some of the bombs were dropped only 10 minutes apart and were aimed at targets in the center of the capital, CNN's Nic Robertson said.
A Hezbollah stronghold in Dahiya, in Beirut's southern suburbs, was also hit, the IDF said. The day before, the IDF said soldiers conducted an aerial attack on the group's main headquarters in Beirut.
Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel. The group holds 23 of the 128 seats in Lebanon's parliament.
Israel also struck northern Lebanon near its border with Syria.