Marjayoun, NU Online
Israeli troops battled Hizbollah deep into south Lebanon on Thursday (10/8), witnesses said, after Hizbollah’s leader vowed to turn the area into a graveyard for the invading soldiers.
Witnesses said troops, under cover of heavy artillery shelling, were fighting fierce battles with guerrillas up to 10 km (six miles) from the border, after the cabinet decided to expand the ground war aimed at crippling the guerrilla group.
<>They said Israeli soldiers were close to the village of Dibeen near the town of Marjayoun, an area the Israelis have not reached before during the four-week-old war.The Israeli army said it would not discuss specific deployments at this stage.
A military source said the operation was aimed at Hizbollah rockets being fired on the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona from the al-Khiam border area. He declined to elaborate.
With world powers divided on a U.N. resolution to try to end the war, the Israeli army said 15 of its soldiers and 40 Hizbollah guerrillas had been killed on Wednesday, one of the bloodiest days of fighting in the war, launched after Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12.
Israeli television said early on Thursday the bodies of Iranian Revolutionary Guards had been found among guerrillas killed in south Lebanon. There was no independent confirmation.
Hizbollah denied that any Iranians were taking part in the fighting alongside its guerrillas.
“Hizbollah categorically denies the lies and claims that the enemy is promoting that Iranian fighters are present in the confrontations with the occupation forces,” the Lebanese guerrilla group said.
Hours earlier, Hizbollah’s leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned Israeli forces against expanding their offensive and urged Arab residents of Haifa to evacuate the city to avoid being hurt by Hizbollah rockets.
“You won’t be able to stay in our land, and if you come in, we’ll force you out, we will turn our precious southern land into a graveyard for the invading Zionists,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech.
“We want an end to all the aggression but if there must be a showdown, then we welcome a showdown in the field.”
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s security cabinet authorised a plan to send troops further, possibly to the Litani river, up to 20 km (13 miles) from the border. A senior political source said the expanded offensive could last 30 days.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack reiterated that Israel had a right to defend itself but said Israel “must take the utmost care” to avoid civilian casualties.
The war has cost the lives of at least 1,005 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and more than 100 Israelis. (reu/dar)