AP: Israeli Commandos Strike In Lebanon

Israeli Commandos Strike In Lebanon

Special Forces Operate Inside Lebanon, Risking Mideast Cease-Fire Agreement

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 19, 2006 | (CBS/AP)

Hezbollah fighters battled an Israeli commando force that landed early Saturday west of the guerrilla stronghold of Baalbek, killing an Israeli officer and wounding two other Israeli soldiers deep inside Lebanon, Lebanese and Israeli officials said.

Lebanon said the raid was a violation of the Aug. 14 U.N. cease-fire, but Israeli officials said they reserve the right to attack to prevent Hezbollah from rearming.

Hezbollah said its guerrillas foiled the raid, but Israel said it force completed its mission.

The Israeli army said the commandos blew up a bridge used to smuggle weapons from Syria and Iran to Hezbollah. There's speculation that Israel hoped to kidnap a senior Hezbollah official to use as a bargaining chip to win the release of two captured Israeli soldiers, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger from Jerusalem.

Lebanese security officials said three guerrillas were killed and three wounded, but a Hezbollah spokesman said there were no deaths among his fighters.

The cease-fire that ended 34 days of fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, took effect Monday and calls on Hezbollah to stop its attacks and on Israel to refrain from offensive military action.

Lebanon's prime minister accused Israel of violating the cease-fire and said he would take up the issue with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.

"The landing carried out by the Israeli occupation forces today in the Bekaa was a flagrant violation of the cessation of hostilities announced by the Security Council," Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said in a statement. He added that he had complained to a U.N. delegation that visited him Saturday, and would take up the matter with Annan.

The Israeli army said Saturday's special forces operation aimed "to prevent and interfere with terror activity against Israel, especially the smuggling of arms from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah." And it said such operations would continue until "an effective monitoring unit" was in place to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its arsenal.

"If the Syrians and Iran continue to arm Hezbollah in violation of the (U.N. cease-fire) resolution, Israel is entitled to act to defend the principle of the arms embargo," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said. "Once the Lebanese army and the international forces are active... then such Israeli activity will become superfluous."

In other developments:

# Israeli soldiers returning from the war in Lebanon are complaining they were hindered by short supplies, a lack of information, poor training and untested equipment.

# The Lebanese army is extending its control of South Lebanon, and in some places has moved all the way to the border with Israel, reported Berger. About 4,500 Lebanese troops have already deployed, and more units are joining them as the force builds up to an eventual 15,000.

# Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has put his plans for a unilateral pullout from much of the West Bank on hold for now, but has not abandoned the idea altogether, a top Olmert aide said Friday, confirming a newspaper report. The Haaretz daily said Olmert told Cabinet ministers this week that in light of the Israel-Hezbollah war, the pullout was no longer his top priority.

Lebanese security officials confirmed the initial report on Hezbollah TV of a drop of Israeli commandos by helicopter on a hill 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 Israeli overflights.

Such a bold operation risked the 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 commando raid was the most serious incident since Monday.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said Lebanese authorities found blood at the scene of the raid. Salloukh, speaking to reporters after meeting with U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen in Beirut, said he informed the U.N. team of the latest Israeli cease-fire violation 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.

Israeli helicopters fired missiles as the commandos withdrew and flew out of the area an hour later.

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.