VARIOUS: Israeli military operation continues in southern Lebanon as U.N. Security Council mulls over draft resolution

Several units of Israeli forces were filmed returning home on Tuesday morning (August 8, 2006) after overnight fighting in southern Lebanon. But while some units crossed back over the border into Israel, many more continued to battle Hizbollah positions throughout the south of Lebanon as the war entered its 29th day. Earlier on Tuesday anti-tank missiles fired by Hizbollah gunmen killed an Israeli soldier and wounded five other troops in fighting in Lebanon, an army spokesman said. The clash took place near the town of Bint Jbeil, the scene of fierce fighting in which three soldiers were killed on Monday. Describing the latest incident, the spokesman said anti-tank missiles struck army engineering vehicles and infantry troops. He said soldiers had killed 15 Hizbollah fighters in the area over the past several days. The incident came just one day after an Israeli aircraft shot down an unmanned spy plane launched by the Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah as it entered Israeli territory, the Israeli army said. The drone was spotted by the air force's monitoring unit and fighter planes were scrambled to intercept it, an Israeli military spokesman said. The spokesman said a fighter plane shot the drone down some 10 km (6.2 miles) off Israel's coast, northwest of the city of Haifa. An Israeli military source added that it was an Iranian made drone with a range of around 150 kilometres (93 miles). The spokesman said it appeared that the drone was not armed, but added further checks were being made of its remains. As the United Nations Security Council continues to work towards drawing up a draft resolution to end the war, Israel warned it would expand its military offensive in Lebanon, where the Iranian-backed Hizbollah has been launching rockets into the Jewish state, if there was no diplomatic solution soon. Ninety-eight Israelis have been killed since Hizbollah guerrillas triggered the war on July 12 by capturing two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid. Israeli air strikes killed more than 50 people on Monday, making it one of deadliest days for Lebanon in the war. Lebanese Health Minister Mohammad Khalifeh said 925 people, mostly civilians, had been killed before Monday's casualties.

ITN Source | August 8, 2006

Tags:. .strikes. .engineering. .describing. .vehicles. .troops