Haaretz
Av 26, 5766
Correspondent, and News Agencies
An
Israel Defense Forces officer was killed and two other officers were
wounded - one seriously - during a commando raid near the Hezbollah
stronghold of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon early Saturday.
Following
the raid, the Defense Ministry on Saturday said the operation will
probably not bring the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah to and end.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz
authorized the operation despite the UN-brokered cease-fire between Israel
and Hezbollah.
The raid was authorized in a meeting Olmert and
Peretz held with the IDF senior command on Wednesday.
Hezbollah's
Al-Manar TV said the unit was transported by helicopter before dawn, and
was being driven in two vehicles to raid the office of senior Hezbollah
official Sheikh Mohammed Yazbek in the village of Bodai before being
discovered by Hezbollah militants. A battle gunbattle erupted and the
troops were forced to retreat, Hezbollah TV said.
Lebanese sources
said the troops were carried in two Lebanese army vehicles and were
wearing Lebanese army uniforms.
Lebanese security officials later
said that three Hezbollah guerrillas were killed in the fighting, but
Hezbollah sources claim their operatives emerged from the battle unharmed.
IDF officials voiced skepticism at Hezbollah's claim.
Channel 10 TV
and Israel Radio reported that several Hezbollah operatives were taken as
prisoners in the raid, though the army declined to confirm or deny this
report.
Army sources said the vehicles came under heavy fire, and
that "we had great luck that the operation didn't result in 10 fatalities
from the force." They said that it was thanks only to the troops'
resourcefulness and courage that the unit did not suffer a far greater
tragedy.
Earlier Saturday, Israeli aircraft fired several rockets
at a target in a Hezbollah stronghold in eastern Lebanon, a Lebanese
security source said.
The IDF said the assault aimed to disrupt
arms smuggling to Hezbollah from Iran and Syria and that such operations
would continue until "an effective monitoring unit" was in place to
prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its arsenal.
"Special forces
carried out an operation to disrupt terror actions against Israel with an
emphasis on the transfer of munitions from Syria and Iran to Hezbollah,"
the IDF said, adding that the operation had achieved all its
aims.
"If the Syrians and Iran continue to arm Hezbollah in
violation of the (UN cease-fire) resolution, Israel is entitled to act to
defend the principle of the arms embargo," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark
Regev said. "Once the Lebanese army and the international forces are
active... then such Israeli activity will become superfluous."
The
provincial government official, Bekaa Valley Governor Antoine Suleiman,
confirmed the troop landing.
Following the battle, Israel Air
Force helicopters fired missiles as the commandos withdrew, leaving the
area within an hour.
Witnesses at the site saw a destroyed bridge
about 500 meters from the area where the landing took place. The witnesses
said they believed it was destroyed by Israeli missiles.
IAF
warplanes crisscrossed the skies above Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley
early Saturday near Baalbek, security officials said.
The IAF has
not attacked Lebanon since the UN cease-fire was implemented August
14.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they
are not authorized to release information to reporters, could not confirm
whether there were any airstrikes.
Similar overflights were
reported in the area Friday night.