By Ze'ev Schiff, Amos Harel and Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies
Israel Defense Forces thrust deep into eastern Lebanon on Tuesday in an escalation of the war and landed troops by helicopter in the Hezbollah heartland near Baalbek.
Lebanese security sources said Israeli soldiers had landed by helicopter near Baalbek in the eastern Bekaa valley as aircraft launched several strikes in the region.
One Lebanese officer saying the Israeli presence in the air above the ancient city was "unprecedented."
Earlier Tuesday, three IDF soldiers were killed in heavy exchanges of fire with Hezbollah fighters in the southern Lebanese village of Ayta a-Shab, near Zarit. Twenty-five soldiers were also lightly wounded.
The night-time Baalbek operation began with at least five rapid air strikes three hours before the end of Israel's self-imposed two-day pause in air attacks.
"The extreme, unprecedented number of aircraft indicates the possibility that the Israelis are planning to land troops, but we cannot yet confirm that," said one security official on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
Flares held aloft by parachutes lighted the night sky to a daytime brilliance, the official said.
The IDF would not comment when asked about the Bekaa Valley operation.
Israel Radio reported briefly on the Baalbek operation quoting reports from Lebanon with no local comment.
Baalbek is about 100 kilometers north of the Litani River, which the Israelis had set as a northern boundary for their expanded ground operation that was announced in the early hours Tuesday.
Israeli warplanes and helicopters started the operation on Baalbek and its surroundings at 10:20 P.M.
Baalbek was a former Syrian army headquarters and included the barracks of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards when they trained Hezbollah guerrillas there in the 1980s.
Israeli helicopters also attacked a target 15 kilometers west of Baalbek, starting a huge fire, witnesses said. It was not immediately known if the target was controlled by Hezbollah or the Lebanese army, whose positions in the area have been routine targets since the start of the fighting 21 days ago.
An Associated Press reporter in southeastern Lebanon reported seeing many flares in the sky near the Israel-controlled Shaba Farms area shortly after reported Hezbollah rocket attacks into the area. Three IDF troops killed in south Lebanon battle Three IDF soldiers were killed in battles with Hezbollah fighters in Ayta a-Shab on Tuesday. Twenty-five soldiers were also lightly wounded.
IDF paratroopers have been operating in Ayta a-Shab since Monday. The IDF said Tuesday that at least 10 Hezbollah guerillas were killed in the clashes.
During the morning hours, paratroopers took positions in a number of houses and prepared to search the village. Around 11 A.M., Hezbollah men opened fire on with anti-tank weapons on two houses in which the paratroopers were situated. One soldier was killed in the first house and an officer and soldier were killed in a second house.
The other soldiers were lightly wounded by the anti-tank fire and in a series of incidents that occurred afterward.
Staff Sergeant Yonatan Einhorn, 22, of Moshav Gimzu, was identified as one of the three casualties. The other two casualties were not immediately identified.
An IDF soldier was also lightly hurt in Maroun A-Ras in southern Lebanon and was evacuated to hospital in Safed.
During the evening hours, five soldiers were lightly wounded by Hezbollah mortar fire on the northern border.
A total of five units - thousands of soldiers - are currently deployed in Lebanon. The forces are active from the Metula region to the area of Zarit, reaching some three to six kilometers inside Lebanese territory. As yet, no reserve soldiers have entered Lebanon, although their deployment is being considered.
The object of the operations was to complete the destruction of Hezbollah border strongpoints by Thursday. The IDF troops are also seeking Hezbollah weaponry dumps.
Soldiers will also move into villages used as Hezbollah bases, in operations similar to the one last week in Bint Jbail.
On Tuesday morning, troops took over a Hezbollah command center in the town of Taibeh and were operating in the area of the villages of al-Adaisa and Rab a-Talatin, west of Metula. The IDF said that a large number of Katyushas have been fired from these villages in the past few weeks. Near Taibeh, troops were operating not far from the Litani River.
Hezbollah said on its Al-Manar television station Tuesday that its fighters continued to "confront" IDF ground troops in Kfar Kila, Adaisse, and Taibeh, near the Christian town of Marjayoun. The guerrilla group released a statement saying four of its fighters died in the battles.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that Israel is "winning the battle" in its 21-day offensive against Hezbollah guerillas in southern Lebanon.
The prime minister said, however, that the diplomatic process to create conditions for a cease-fire was underway.
May God bless their souls.