ISRAEL/ LEBANON: Israeli forces continue to pound southern Lebanon with artillery, while Hizbollah rockets continue to fall in Israeli communities

Israeli forces massed along the Israeli border with Lebanon on Saturday (July 22) as Hizbollah guerillas continued to fire rockets on Israeli towns on the eleventh day of a regional flare-up. Israeli troops were massed on the border for a possible large-scale ground offensive against Hizbollah guerrillas holed up in southern Lebanon who have fired more than 600 rockets into Israel in the past 11 days. Small units of Israeli troops are already operating in the area, across the border, the military has said, although it has described the operations as "pinpoint" incursions rather than a full-scale assault. Israeli forces have told villagers in southern Lebanon to leave ahead of what is expected to be an aerial bombardment of the area to destroy suspected Hizbollah bunkers and weapons stores. Israeli forces battled Hizbollah militants about one kilometre inside the Lebanese border on Saturday as they attempted to destroy guerrillas hideouts and weapons stores, an army spokesman said. Smoke was rising above a ridge about one kilometre inside Lebanon and the sound of gunfire and occasional blasts could be heard. Troops backed by around a dozen tanks and armoured vehicles were operating in the village of Maroun al-Ras, scene of intense battles earlier this week, where they said they had encountered Hizbollah bunkers, weapons stores and rocket-launching sites. Israeli Ground forces commander Major-General Benny Gantz said on Saturday that Israeli troops have ousted Hizbollah guerrillas from the key southern Lebanese town of Maroun al-Ras. Six commandos have been killed in clashes around the village, which Israel said had served as a staging ground for attempted Hizbollah attacks on nearby Israeli border towns. Gantz told reporters at a daily briefing that Hizbollah had suffered dozens of casualties in and around the town. "In summary, it can be said that the area of Maroun al-Ras, that had served as a (Hizbollah) vantage point over Avivim, now serves as an (Israeli) vantage point over Bint Jbail," Gantz said, referring to a suspected Hizbollah stronghold nearby. More than 40 rockets fired by Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah hit towns across northern Israel on Saturday, injuring 16 people, damaging three houses and setting cars ablaze, medics and the army said. Since the flare-up began, 15 Israeli civilians and 11 soldiers have been killed by Hizbollah attacks. Some 350 Lebanese, most of them civilians, have died in Israeli air strikes and artillery shelling ordered after Hizbollah killed eight soldiers and abducted two others in a July 12 border raid. A Lebanese woman wounded during Israel's military offensive in southern Lebanon was admitted to an Israeli hospital in the northern town of Safed, a frequent target of rocket salvos fired by Hizbollah. Officials at Safed's Rebecca Sieff Hospital said the 46-year-old woman suffered a bullet wound to the chest in her hometown of Maroun al-Ras, which has seen intense fighting between Israeli troops and Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas. The woman was brought into Israel along with her son, hospital officials said. Located 12 km (7.5 miles) from the Lebanese border, Safed has itself come under Hizbollah rocket fire during 10 days of fighting. In the latest barrage of rockets on the towns of Safed and Carmiel, six Israelis were wounded, including a woman in a serious condition. Israel has been moving troops and armour in since the crisis with Hizbollah erupted on July 12 when the group abducted two soldiers and killed eight others in a cross-border raid. As fighting continued across the border, some hundreds of Israelis marched in central Israel to protest against Israel's attacks on its neighbouring country. Hundreds of peace activists and anti-war demonstrators rallied and marched in downtown Tel Aviv. They called Israel to halt the fire on Lebanon and to negotiate with Lebanese officials, including Hizbollah, and with the Palestinian government headed by the militant group Hamas. The rally started in Rabin Square and protesters marched through city's streets.

ITN Source | July 23, 2006

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