Posted on 07/26/2006 12:54:48 PM PDT by SmithL
Eight IDF soldiers from the Golani infantry brigade, three of them officers, were killed in a fierce battle on Wednesday as IDF forces fought to seal off the Hizbullah stronghold of Bint Jbail in southern Lebanon. The heavy clashes erupted after forces entered the town.
In addition, at least 30 soldiers were wounded, three seriously, in the battles. At least two of the wounded were officers. Some of the evacuations of the wounded took place under fire.
IDF sources reported heavy gun battles between soldiers from the Golani Brigade and Hizbullah guerrillas, and said that some of the shooting was taking place at point-blank range in homes and courtyards.
By its duration and casualties, the battle is the heaviest combat between Hizbullah and Israel since the war in the North erupted.
Even after the IDF declared it had cleared and secured the Lebanese town of Maroun al-Ras of Hizbullah guerillas, a Paratroopers contingent near the town was hit by an anti-tank missile Wednesday evening.
Several soldiers were wounded in the attack and in the gunfight that ensued.
IAF warplanes destroyed the offices of Hizbullah's south Lebanon commander in the southern port city of Tyre on Wednesday, security officials and witnesses said. The building was empty but 12 people nearby were injured.
The two explosions in the center of the city raised a giant pall of smoke over Tyre, and electricity was knocked out in some areas. The target was a seven-story building housing the office of Sheik Nabil Kaouk, the Hizbullah commander in south Lebanon.
The building was heavily damaged and the top floors were pancaked on top of each other. But witnesses and doctors said it was believed to be empty.
Hizbullah said through its Al-Manar TV station Wednesday that its guerrillas had ambushed an Israeli unit on the Massoud hilltop in Bint Jbail, causing many casualties whom the Israelis were unable to rescue because of heavy fire.
A senior Hizbullah official, Mahmoud Komati, told The Associated Press Wednesday that Israeli forces had managed to seize a few points inside Bint Jbail, but had not yet taken the town center.
The IDF said several Hizbullah fighters had taken cover in a local mosque.
But Komati denied fighters were taking cover in a mosque and suggested they may be civilians. "Fighters don't take shelter in mosques. They fight on the battlefield. If they can't, they retreat but not to mosques."
Rahhal, the Hizbullah spokesman, angrily responded to a question about the mosque refuge. "What's the Israeli's business that our fighters were in the mosque? Maybe they were praying at the time!"
On Tuesday night, the IDF confirmed that a high-ranking Hizbullah leader called Al-Jafar had been killed in an IAF air strike in Lebanon. This was the first time since Operation Change of Direction began on July 12, following the abduction of two soldiers in a cross-border attack, that the army confirmed such a report.
The IDF would not reveal the official's exact position but said that he was high up in the organization's hierarchy and was one of the Hizbullah's regional commanders.
Earlier, IAF fighter jets destroyed 10 buildings in the Beirut neighborhood of Dahiya, home to Hizbullah command headquarters on Tuesday.
God Bless The IDF!
No wonder the UN wants a ceasefire.
I think Iraq and now Lebanon '06 is the beginning of the acceptance of common wisdom that Mosques are now a strategic element of militant islamic war infrastructure and should be considered as such by defense planners (and the U.N., media, etc.) Kinda makes that next zoning board meeting more interesting, eh?
lol
I have seen real time video footage of laser directed fire that turns these words into an OUTRIGHT LIE of Taqquiyah or deception.
The secondary explosions told the tale.
The planes swooped in, and cries of "Holy Shi'ite!" were heard!
I guess the call to prayer for hizbulla is the rattle of an AK.
It looks like their prayers were answered,"NO!!!"
>"Fighters don't take shelter in mosques. They fight on the
>battlefield. If they can't, they retreat but not to mosques."
When did this ... new policy begin?
Let's hope the Israelis go full bore. That ought to keep them busy in the mosques.
I would guess for the same reason the Marines went house to house in Fallujah instead of doing an Arclight on it.Makes for very very bad PR.
Well, yes, but...
Rahhal, the Hizbullah spokesman, angrily responded to a question about the mosque refuge. "What's the Israeli's business that our fighters were in the mosque? Maybe they were praying at the time!"
Boys, you just got to keep your stories straight.
Now for their eastern headquaters in Damascus and their far-eastern headquarters in Tehran.
Maybe some of the terrorists in Iraq will leave to help the terrorists attacking Israel. We should add troops to Iraq, send help to Israel, and bomb Iran's nuclear sites.
This is a WAR against terrorism, which should include all terrorist states and all the various terrorist groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah, al Qaeda....wherever they are. Can't win this war by negotiating with terrorist groups or states. Must kill them all.
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ROTFLMBO!!!!!!!! For some reason this hit my funny bone.
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