7:43pm UK, Tuesday January 20, 2004

Israeli warplanes have attacked two Hizbollah bases in Lebanon in retaliation for a strike that killed an Israeli soldier.

Two targets were struck near the Israeli-Lebanese border.

There have been several cross-border skirmishes leading to airstrikes

A Lebanese army source said there were no casualties.

"The Israeli air force targeted two Hizbollah posts used to target northern Israel," said Major Sharon Feingold, an Israeli military spokeswoman.

Border attack

"The Hizbollah terrorist organisation uses these posts...for its terrorist training and as weapons caches."

The raids came after the militant Lebanese group attacked an Israeli military bulldozer on Monday.

The group claimed the bulldozer had crossed the border into Lebanon.

An Israeli soldier was killed in the rocket attack.

Israel initially denied the bulldozer had breached the border but later said it had encroached by several metres to clear explosives.

The officials said the decision to attack Hizbollah targets was made at a four-hour meeting of senior military commanders on Tuesday.

Warning to Syria

Though Israel holds Syria responsible - Hizbollah is a Syrian-backed group and the country is believed to fund the organisation - it was decided not to attack Syria in order not to inflame the situation, Israeli officials said.

The Shi'ite Muslim group fought against Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon, which ended in May 2000 with a UN-approved Israeli pullback.

But the incident is likely to inflame Israeli-Syrian relations.

"Israel considers Syria directly responsible for any terrorist activity emanating from Lebanon, and will not tolerate the current situation whereby the terror organisations attempt to escalate the situation in the north," Feingold said.

There have been several cross-border incidents in which Israeli soldiers have been captured and killed.

Israeli warplanes often fly over southern Lebanon, a move criticised by the international community.