3 IDF soldiers killed in Lebanon
Cleared for publication: Three troops killed during battles in Aita al-Shaab in south Lebanon; paratroopers operating in village since pre-dawn Tuesday; at least six Hizbullah members killed in fighting
Hanan Greenberg
Another day of fierce fighting in Lebanon: Three IDF soldiers were killed Tuesday in two confrontations with Hizbullah in the village of Aita al-Shaab about one kilometer from the Israeli border.
Twenty-five more soldiers, among them one IDF officer, were lightly wounded. Including the casualties Tuesday, the number of soldiers
who have fallen during fighting in the north over the past three weeks rose to 36. An additional 28 civilians have been killed.
The soldiers were killed in two separate incidents of fighting. In each incident, Hizbullah operatives fired anti-tank missiles towards troops. The first missile killed an officer and soldier, and the second killed another soldier.
Paratroopers have been operating in the village since pre-dawn Tuesday, with air force and tank brigade backup. At least six Hizbullah terrorists were killed in the fighting.
Brigadier-General Alon Friedman, head of the IDF’s Northern Command headquarters, said “the ground forces are operating with the back-up of artillery fire to clear the area of terrorists and weapons caches; some 20 terrorists have been hit since the fighting began this morning.”
A military official described the difficult battles: “At every moment, a terrorist pops up. The shooting here doesn’t let up for a minute. Terrorists are operating from within posts, within houses and between them.”
Shortly after the political-security cabinet approved the widening of the ground offensive in south Lebanon, forces began deploying to numerous sites along the border. Overnight Tuesday, paratroopers began operating in the village with backup from tank brigades and the Air Force.
The village Aita al-Shaab is located roughly one kilometer from the Israeli border, although the IDF clarified that the army would operate anywhere in south Lebanon which housed terror infrastructure.
We started seeing reports of IDF cross border raids as early as 0300-0400 EDT, 1000 lima, and we now see the first waves of rockets at 1300 EDT, 2000 lima, yielding a turnaround time for hezb's decision making cycle of 10 hours.
Israel might be wise to exploit their mobility as heavily as possible, even thinking outside the box if possible.