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Israeli army says it imposed sea blockade on Lebanon

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The Israeli army's news service told Thursday it had imposed a total sea blockade on Lebanon.
TEL AVIV, July 13 (RIA Novosti) - The Israeli army's news service told Thursday it had imposed a total sea blockade on Lebanon.

The service said Israeli ships had blockaded Lebanese ports that are allegedly being used to transport weapons and terrorists attacking Israel.

Local radio also reported that an air blockade had been imposed on Lebanon, but this information has not been officially confirmed.

The naval blockade and the bombing of an airport and a television broadcasting center in Beirut earlier in the day follow Wednesday's cross-border raid by Hizbollah militants, who killed seven Israeli servicemen and took two others hostage.

Israel said the attack by the radical Islamist group, based in Lebanon, was an unprovoked act of aggression and that the Lebanese government, comprising two Hizbollah members, should be held responsible for it.

About 20 people have reportedly been killed in Israel's air strikes Thursday.

Lebanese militants are continuing rocket attacks on northern Israel. An attack on the northwestern town of Nahariya killed a woman and left more than 20 other civilians wounded.

Russia has strongly condemned Israel's attacks on Lebanon and called for the release of the Israeli hostages.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said in a statement Thursday that both sides should take urgent actions to prevent further violence in the Middle East, calling the missile strike on Beirut's international airport "a dangerous step toward military escalation" and urging the "immediate and unconditional" release of the Israeli hostages taken by Hizbollah.

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