World Tribune.com

Israeli forces in Lebanon running search and destroy missions

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Wednesday, July 19, 2006

TEL AVIV — Israel has slipped infantry units into Lebanon and plans to eventually have 5,000 soldiers there.

Israeli infantry and engineering units have been sent into Lebanon for an assault on Hizbullah positions and strongholds near the Israeli border. The soldiers were said to be destroying Hizbullah forts and directing air strikes against suspected arsenals in southern Lebanon, Middle East Newsline reported.

"This is the beginning of a major operation," a senior military source said.

The source said the military planned to send more than 5,000 soldiers into Lebanon for a rapid search-and-destroy mission. They said the operation was based on an assessment that Israel would accept a United Nations-arranged ceasefire in Lebanon by the end of the week.

Little information has been released by the military on Israeli ground operations. On Monday, the military said infantry and engineering units spent two days in the area of Rajar in search of Hizbullah positions. Rajar is a border village divided by Israel and Lebanon.

The sources said the Israeli ground operation would seek to destroy Hizbullah rocket arsenals and eliminate fighters in at least seven Shi'ite villages in southeastern Lebanon. They said Hizbullah was believed to have stored thousands of Katyusha-class rockets in the villages.

The combat forces slated for deployment in Lebanon have been serving in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The sources said they would be replaced by at least three reserve battalions, comprised of units from artillery, engineering and infantry.

So far, Israeli ground troops have begun the establishment of a one-kilometer buffer zone inside Lebanon. The sources said army bulldozers have destroyed all Hizbullah outposts along the Israeli-Lebanese border.

On Tuesday, the military reported two infiltration attempts by Hizbullah over the previous few hours. A military spokesman said the two Hizbullah squads were detected as they were approaching the Israeli border and were struck.

Under the Israeli plan, the army would allow only Lebanese Army soldiers or United Nations personnel in the buffer zone. The Israeli military has determined that the Lebanese Army has been helping Hizbullah in rocket attacks.

On Monday, the Israel Air Force targeted a Lebanese Army radar installation in A-Nazriya in southern Lebanon. On Tuesday, the Lebanese Army reported that 10 of its soldiers were killed in an Israeli air attack on Beirut.


Copyright © 2006 East West Services, Inc.

Print this Article Print this Article Email this article Email this article Subscribe to this Feature Free Headline Alerts


Google
Search Worldwide Web Search WorldTribune.com