The long-overdue defensive action against Hizballah continues. "Israel strikes Beirut suburb," from [1] Reuters:

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israeli jets destroyed roads and junctions in Hizbollah's southern Beirut stronghold on Friday hours after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered a more intense response to the group's capture of two Israeli soldiers.

Three people were killed and 20 wounded in the pre-dawn raids on the Shi'ite Muslim suburb, security sources said. Shops and buildings were damaged and dozens of cars wrecked in the district, home to hundreds of thousands of people.

A series of similar strikes forced the closure of a highway linking Beirut to Damascus and set a fuel storage facility at the Jiyyeh power plant outside the city ablaze.

Israel's decision to ramp up the attacks came at a meeting of security chiefs after a day in which Israel blockaded Lebanese ports, struck Beirut airport and two military airbases near Syria, and attacked bridges and houses in the south.

The attacks virtually isolated Lebanon by air, sea and land.