Special report: Israel-Lebanon Conflicts   [Video ] [Gallery]

    BEIRUT, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Israeli gunboats shelled the largest Palestinian refugee camp of Ain Al Hilweh in Lebanon early Wednesday, causing casualties, official sources said.

    Media reports quoted Lebanese and Palestinian officials as saying that Israeli gunboats fired two shells, which killed at least one person and wounded three others.

    But other reports quoted medics as saying that at least two people were killed and eight others, including five children, were wounded in the Israeli attack.

    This is the first time Israel has bombarded the home to some 50,000 refugees since the start of the Israel-Lebanese Hezbollah conflict on July 12.

    According to the sources, one Israeli gunboat shell landed in the Ain Al Hilweh camp, located on the outskirts of the southern port city of Sidon, and another one slammed into the city's amusement park.

    The shells targeted the area around the home of Colonel Munir Maqdah, military chief of Palestinian Fatah movement in Lebanon,said the sources.

    Violence between Israel and Hezbollah erupted on July 12 when Lebanon's Hezbollah guerillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight during cross-border attacks. It has left over 1,000 Lebanese and 100 Israelis dead.

    The international community has stepped up calls for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah to end the 28 days of fighting. Enditem