Israel strikes back after Haifa attacked
Hezbollah rockets sent deeper into northern Israel from Lebanon
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- The Israeli military and Hezbollah traded deadly attacks for a fifth straight day on Sunday, with the Lebanon-based militants striking Haifa and other towns deeper inside Israel.
World powers meeting in Russia Sunday appealed for an end to the violence, even as Israel warned of fierce retaliation for the Haifa attack, which killed eight Israelis.
Hours after the Haifa attack, Israeli airstrikes pounded the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sunday.
Twenty people were killed and 50 were wounded Sunday south of Beirut in an Israeli airstrike on the Lebanese port city of Tyre, according to Lebanese television.
Later Sunday, Hezbollah rockets hit three northern Israeli towns more than 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the Lebanese border, the farthest south of any rocket attacks to date, the Israeli military said. (Watch Beirut airport burn -- 1:25)
Minor injuries were reported when the missiles hit the towns of Nazareth, Afula and Givat E'la near Israel's border with the West Bank, Israeli officials said.
Those reports came shortly after the airport was struck in south Beirut, sending a fuel storage depot up in flames.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack on Haifa, saying it was responding to overnight Israeli airstrikes inside Lebanon.
One of the Hezbollah rockets hit a railway depot, killing at least eight and wounding 17 others -- six of them seriously -- Israeli medical services said. (Watch train depot shattered by rocket -- 2:13)
The Israeli military said subsequent airstrikes hit buildings where Hezbollah members lived and worked.
The IDF said it targeted the villages of Tsur and Aitaron in south Lebanon. And in Beirut's southern suburbs, a building housing a Hezbollah radio station was leveled.
Israeli troops also used 155 mm howitzers to shell targets inside southern Lebanon that they said were used by Hezbollah to launch rockets.
Residents in southern Lebanon had been warned two to three hours in advance of the attacks, the IDF said.
Lebanese officials said Sunday that 104 people have been killed and 286 wounded in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants that began Wednesday.
A total of 12 Israeli civilians and 12 Israeli military personnel have been killed since Wednesday. More than 100 others have been wounded.
Seven Canadians were killed and another three were wounded Sunday in southern Lebanon amid Israeli shelling and airstrikes, Canada's foreign ministry said.
Hezbollah: Just beginning
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Sunday that his fighters still have plenty of weapons and the will to keep fighting.
"Our fighters are ready," he said in a televised address in Arabic to the Lebanese people.
"As we surprised [Israel] in the sea, and as we surprised them in Haifa, we will surprise them with what's beyond Haifa," Nasrallah said.
He accused Israel of attacking civilian targets, while insisting that Hezbollah has aimed its rocket attacks only at the Israeli military.
"The enemy does not know our capabilities. ... We are still in the beginning," he said.
In Israel, Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres acknowledged that civilian casualties have occurred but said Israeli forces "are extremely careful" about distinguishing between Hezbollah and civilian targets.
"We are being attacked indiscriminately," he 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), IDF spokeswoman Miri Regev said. Haifa, Israel's third largest city, is about 35 kilometers south of the Lebanese border.
Iran rejected a similar Israeli assertion that it supplied Hezbollah the missile that struck an Israeli warship 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.
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.
Israel on alert as far south as Tel Aviv
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 IDF.
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 the group 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 spokesman Silvio Sircana.
In Beirut's Parliament building, Siniora met during the afternoon with European Union Foreign Affairs and Security Chief Javier Solana.
"The gates of hell have been opened on Lebanon," Siniora told CNN. He called Israel's actions "disproportionate," and predicted they would encourage extremists.
In St. Petersburg, Russia, the Group of Eight countries issued a statement expressing "deepening concern" about the situation. But the G-8 countries are divided over who is to blame and how to move forward. (Full story)
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. (What is Hezbollah?)
Other developments:
Israeli forces bombed the Jiyeh power plant south of the Lebanese capital early Sunday, Lebanese army sources said. Israel also struck northern Lebanon near its border with Syria.
Israeli aircraft blasted the Palestinian Authority's Foreign Ministry offices in Gaza early Monday, the Israeli military said. (Full story)
France announced plans to begin evacuating its citizens and other mostly European nationals out of Beirut by sea, while U.S. officials were planning a large-scale evacuation of Americans. (Full story)
CNN's John Vause, Richard Roth, Paula Hancocks, Alessio Vinci and Sandy Petrykowski contributed to this report.
Lebanese officials have said that an Israeli air strike on the southern city of Tyre on Sunday killed nine civilians and wounded 42. Additional attacks on Beirut's international airport set a fuel tank ablaze.

On Sunday, seven Canadian citizens were killed in Israeli air strikes on southern Lebanon, according to a spokesperson for Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay. Six others are in critical condition. The victims were not identified.

The Israeli offensive continued after rockets fired by Hezbollah hit a train station in downtown Haifa Sunday morning, killing eight civilians. Israeli officials claim that four of the rockets were made by Iran. 

"After the Zionist enemy exceeded all limits killing and destroying ... the Islamic Resistance announces that it bombarded the city of Haifa with dozens of Raad 2 and Raad 3 rockets at 9 a.m. (0600 GMT)," said Hezbollah in a statement.

At 11:10 a.m., another round of five rockets was fired at Haifa, landing in the sea near Bat Galim, Kiryat Haim and Kiryat Motzkin. Four people reportedly suffered from shock in the attack.  

Israel and Hezbollah have been trading attacks since Wednesday.  The crisis began when Hezbollah militants made an incursion into Israel, capturing two soldiers patrolling the northern border. Israel has ordered over two million civilians to stay in bomb shelters.

Israel has been bombing various military and civilian targets inside Lebanon, while Hezbollah has been firing less accurate missiles of varying length into Israeli cities. Civilian casualties have been high on both sides.

Overall, over 700 rockets were fired by Hezbollah militants at Israel over the past four days.