Posted on 08/19/2006 3:00:24 AM PDT by BlackVeil
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hezbollah fighters battled Israeli commandos who landed near the militants' stronghold deep inside Lebanon early Saturday, killing one soldier, in the first large-scale violation of the U.N.-brokered cease-fire between the sides.
Hezbollah said its guerrillas foiled the raid after a gunbattle, and the Israeli army said one officer was killed and two soldiers were wounded, one seriously.
Witnesses said Israeli missiles destroyed a bridge during the raid — the first major violation of the U.N.-imposed cease-fire that took effect Monday following 34 days of fighting.
The Israeli army said the special forces operation aimed "to prevent and interfere with terror activity against Israel, especially the smuggling of arms from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah." It said the commando team completed its mission.
The army said such operations would be carried out until "an effective monitoring unit" of Lebanese or multinational troops was in place to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its arsenal.
Hezbollah TV and Lebanese security officials said Israeli helicopters dropped off a commando team outside the village of Boudai west of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release information to the media, said the Israelis apparently were seeking a guerrilla target in a nearby school but had no other details. The officials also reported heavy overflights of Israeli jets.
Such a bold operation risked scuttling the fragile cease-fire and suggested Israel was going after a major target near Baalbek — perhaps to rescue two Israeli soldiers snatched by Hezbollah on July 12, or to try to capture a senior guerrilla official to trade for the soldiers.
Hezbollah has said it wants to exchange the two soldiers for Arab prisoners, but the U.N. cease-fire resolution demands Hezbollah unconditionally release the soldiers.
Local media said Sheik Mohammed Yazbeck, a senior Hezbollah official in the Bekaa and a member of the Shura council of the group, may have been the target. Yazbeck is a native of Boudai.
Israeli troops have killed several guerrillas who Israel said threatened its troops in south Lebanon since the cease-fire, and warplanes have flown over the country. But the cease-fire allows military action in self-defense, and the commando raid was by far the most serious incident since Monday.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said Lebanese authorities found blood at the scene of the raid, indicating Israeli casualties. Salloukh, speaking to reporters after meeting with U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen in Beirut, said he informed the U.N. team of the Israeli action in Baalbek and said the U.N. team would raise the issue with Israeli authorities.
"If Israel continues its violations, it is the responsibility of the (U.N.) Security Council to take action and ask Israel to stop these violations," he said.
A provincial government official, Bekaa Valley Gov. Antoine Suleiman, confirmed the Israeli troop landing. He told the privately owned Voice of Lebanon radio station that the landing party brought with it two vehicles that were later withdrawn after clashes.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said the Israeli commando force landed before dawn and was driving into Boudai when it was intercepted by guerrillas who forced it to retreat under the cover of warplanes, which staged mock raids.
Hezbollah officials on the scene said overflights from Israeli jet fighters drowned the clatter of helicopters as they flew into the foothills of the central Lebanese mountains, dropping commandos and two vehicles they used to drive into the village when the Hezbollah fighters intercepted them in a field.
The commandos identified themselves as the Lebanese army, but the guerrillas grew suspicious and gunfire erupted, the officials said.
Israeli helicopters fired missiles as the commandos withdrew and flew out of the area an hour later, they said.
Witnesses saw bandages and syringes at the site. The also saw a destroyed bridge about 500 yards from the area where the landing took place, after missiles were fired by Israeli aircraft.
Overflights were reported Friday night in the same area.
Israel said late Friday its warplanes have not attacked Lebanon since the cease-fire took effect.
Baalbek is the birthplace of the Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah. The area in the eastern Bekaa Valley, 60 miles north of the Israeli border, is a major guerrilla stronghold.
The U.N. Security Council cease-fire resolution calls for an immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations.
In letters to Lebanese and Israeli leaders, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has warned the two countries against occupying additional territory and told them to refrain from responding to any attacks "except where clearly required in immediate self-defense."
Annan also told Israel and Lebanon that once the cessation of hostilities took effect there must be no firing from the ground, sea or air into the other side's territory or at its forces.
And a good job too. No more Hudna.
I say Go isreal GO! its about time they start kicking ass i wished america would do the same these people dont want peace they have made it very clear what there goal's they are united for common casue they want the whole world under one rule which is islam if American people dont wake up it will happen i dont know why? They dont get it I just dont
Syrian government has to be hurting. They run alot of drugs through the bakaa valley on its way to europe and Israel is shutting down their smuggling routes.
Regardless of whether one thinks ones opponent does not want peace, it is a very serious step to break a ceasefire.
I Found it very hard to belive that isreal would just up and break ceasefire without reason
Yes, that is the hashish route. But drug traders have a way of always getting the product through ... they will find a way. Very difficult to stop them.
More info will come out tomorrow, I guess. The story I have read says that they Israelis claim to be stopping Syria replinishing weapons for Hezbollah.
maybe so
are you a troll? your manner and Your tagine are pure DU counter ops.
We'll see if the Hezzies respond.
I think you might be right.
StoneWall is a regular poster.
We are trying to work out why the ceasefire has blown up.
I am about the only person who LIKED the news of the ceasefire in Lebanon, really, it was a step forward compared to the horror of the previous four weeks.
What bullshit. You know it's a way of life for the Muslims. So the Israelis copied them. Big deal. Muslims call these bullshit ceasefires Hudna. It's in the Koran which you might want to read sometime
Mo' advocated breaking ceasefires and treaties and Muzzies have been emulating him ever since
I'm afraid we haven't seen true horror in this fight that will never end until one side is completely annihilated.
This is for you, clown:
"When you live among wolves, you must howl like a wolf" This is Israel's dilemma. (Quote is from Lenin)
To imply that Israel entered the treaty on the basis of a fake peace (the term assigned to the word "hudna") seems like a grim judgement of them. Better not to have a treaty, than to have a treaty on the basis of - I will have a break then start on them again.
Lenin is a very poor guide for how one OUGHT to behave.
That is the key point. I doubt if they will fire rockets into Israel immediatly. I think they will just keep operating on the ground in Lebanon, and refuse to give up their arms - but they were never going to give up their arms, anyway.
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