ISRAEL POUNDS HEZBOLLAH

Israeli Forces Pound Hezbollah Positions
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Israel's pounding of Hezbollah positions across Lebanon expanded Friday with missiles targeting bridges in the Christian heartland north of Beirut for the first time, an attack that further isolates Lebanon from the outside world.

Five civilians were killed and 19 wounded in the airstrikes north of the capital, Lebanese security officials said. A Lebanese soldier and four civilians were killed in air raids near Beirut's airport and southern suburbs, security officials and witnesses said.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah guerrillas hammered northern Israel with a barrage of 120 rockets Friday, killing two Israeli women and seriously injuring another person, police said. In one particularly intense barrage, some 45 rockets fell within half an hour.

Two Israeli soldiers were killed by a Hezbollah anti-tank missile during heavy fighting in a southern Lebanese village where the militant group had been launching rockets, the army said.

The destruction of four bridges on the main north-south coastal highway linking Beirut to Syria further sealed Lebanon from outside links, as the Israeli naval blockade and earlier strikes against roadways have largely closed off other access points.