Israeli helicopters fired missiles on Beirut's slums Friday in an effort to wreck the nerve center of Lebanese guerrillas. Witnesses also said the Israelis hit a Syrian army position and wounded at least 12 Syrian soldiers.
The Israeli air raid on Beirut - the second on the Lebanese capital in as many days - was in retaliation for Hezbollah guerrilla rocket attacks on northern Israel Friday morning. Earlier in the day, Israel bombarded suspected guerrilla bases in southern Lebanon.Witnesses said six rockets fired by Israeli aircraft struck a Syrian encampment on a seaside highway leading to Beirut International Airport.
Asked to respond to reports that a Syrian position was attacked in the latest Israeli airstrike against Beirut, an Israeli government official said: "The Syrians are not a target."
His comment suggested that Israel was not interested in drawingthe Syrians into its conflict with Hezbollah.
Syria maintains 40,000 troops in Lebanon and is the country's real power broker. Israel's peace talks with both Arab countries are deadlocked.
The reported attack on the Syrian military position came shortly after Israeli helicopters fired missiles on Beirut's Shiite Muslim slums Friday.
Up to six Apache helicopters fired six air-to-surface missiles on southern Beirut, the nerve center of the pro-Iranian group Hez- bollah.
High-flying Israeli fighter jets provided cover for the helicopters as they swooped down to hit targets near the Beirut airport.
A few minutes later, the aircraft returned to fire four more rockets at other nearby targets.
From the roofs of high-rise buildings in the center of Beirut, residents could see smoke billowing from the stricken targets.
The aircraft, dropping missile-deflecting balloons, drew heavy anti-aircraft fire from Lebanese army gunners around the airport.
Earlier, Lebanese guerrillas pounded northern Israel with rockets, and Israeli warplanes struck back by bombarding suspected guerrilla bases in southern Lebanon.
The guerrilla rockets, fired in retaliation for Israeli attacks on Thursday, damaged homes and wounded at least four people, one of them seriously. There were no casualty reports from the Israeli reprisals in southern Lebanon.
The attacks were the latest in a new cycle of violence along the Israeli-Lebanese border, where Hezbollah is fighting to drive Israeli troops from the strip of land they control in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah has been firing rockets at northern Israel in recent weeks, injuring 36 people on Tuesday. With Israeli elections less than two months away, Israel retaliated with an exceptionally harsh attack Thursday, sending warplanes to strike the capital, Beirut, for the first time in 14 years.
Hezbollah vowed to avenge the attacks, and retaliation was swift. Hardest hit in the rocket attacks Friday was the Israeli community of Kiryat Shemona, where more than a dozen rockets fell.