Wednesday, 19 July 2006, 13:17

Israeli aircrafts hit central Beirut for the first time since the conflict broke out one week ago and continued air raids in southern Lebanon have killed dozens and caused wide-spread damage in the eighth day of fighting. A truck in the Ashrafiya district in central Beirut was hit Wednesday, the first time the captial city's centre was struck by Israeli missiles.

The International Red Cross headquarters in Ansariya was hit in a seperate air strike, injuring a medic. The Red Cross told Aljazeera television that they could not reach the town of Selaa because of bombed roads and buildings.

The Lebanese deathtoll now stands at 280 after an air strike destroyed at least 15 homes in the village of Srifa, killing at least 12, including several children, and injuring 30, head of Srifa town municipality told Aljazeera Television.

Residents feared more were buried under the rubble.

Srifa Mayor Afif Najdi said a "massacre [has been] committed in Srifa."

"There are dozens dead and massive destruction. Emergency services are putting out fires [but] they cannot reach the houses to recover bodies," Najdi told Aljazeera television.

Two women and three children were killed in Nabatiya after their house was hit in an air raid.

An Aljazeera correspondent reported five civilians were killed in the town of Maarabun, near Baalbek, after Israeli missile struck their houses.

Israel also hit targets in Tyre, Luci, west of Bekaa, and the Al-Nabisheet area near Baalbek, killing and injuring dozens.

The coastal town of Chuweifat, just south of the capital where several factories are located near the Israeli bombed airport, was struck by Israeli missiles Wednesday while Hadath, a mainly Christian town just east of Beirut,was also hit.

Israeli warplanes also struck a bridge in the southern city of Sidon and houses in two other southern villages, local media reported. There was no immediate word on casualties in any of the air strikes.