BEIRUT, July 17: Lebanese TV stations broadcast video pictures on Monday of what they said was an Israeli military aircraft falling to the ground near Beirut, but a senior Lebanese security official said the falling object was a fuel tank dropped by an Israeli aircraft.
The Israeli military said no aircraft was shot down over Beirut on Monday. They said Lebanese TV stations broadcast video pictures of the incident, erroneously describing the destroyed missile as an Israeli military aircraft falling to the ground.
Israeli military officials also claimed that an air strike in Lebanon destroyed one long-range Iranian missile capable of hitting Tel Aviv.
The officials said Israeli aircraft targeted a truck carrying the weapons before they could be launched. The force of the blast sent one missile flying into the air, but it fell nearby. Israeli officials said the destroyed missile was an Iranian-made Zilzal, which has a range of about 120kms.
The air strike and the object’s impact started separate bush fires. Large pieces of metal that appeared to be of military origin littered a road, and two bodies were seen among the debris.
Lebanese Broadcasting Corp showed footage of a burning object crashing into the ground at Kfar Chima, a town near southern Beirut, initially describing the object as an F-16 fighter jet. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV aired the LBC video tape but said the aircraft was a helicopter gunship.
The TV reports caused men to go out into the streets of southern Beirut and fire into the sky in celebration.
Israeli air strikes killed 46 people across Lebanon, including 10 civilians hit on a southern bridge, on Monday.
Rescuers also pulled nine bodies from the wreckage of a building in the southern city of Tyre that was bombed on Sunday, raising the death toll since Israel’s offensive began above 200.
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, speaking in Beirut after talks with the Lebanese government, called for an immediate truce on humanitarian grounds.
But Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said his country would pursue its offensive until the two captured soldiers were returned and Lebanese army troops control all of south Lebanon.
Three Israeli tanks briefly crossed a few hundred metres into Lebanese territory on Monday afternoon, a UN source said.
Israeli Army Radio, quoting a top official, said the country would enforce a one-km ‘free-fire’ zone to bar Hezbollah from the border, without keeping troops on the ground.—AP/Reuters
