ISRAEL: The Israeli army prepares for a possible push to Lebanon's Litani river where troops are already trying to dislodge Hizbollah

Record ID: 395392

  • Title: ISRAEL: The Israeli army prepares for a possible push to Lebanon's Litani river where troops are already trying to dislodge Hizbollah
  • Date: 4th August 2006
  • Summary: (W2) ZARIT, NORTHERN ISRAELI BORDER (AUGUST 4, 2006) (REUTERS) LINE OF TANKS ALONG BORDER SOLDIER HOLDING MORNING PRAYER ON TANK CLOSE OF TANK BARREL SOLDIERS NEAR TANK SOLDIER FOLDING SHIRT ON TANK WIDE OF TANKS POSTED ON BORDER UN POST ON BORDER/ PULLOUT TO TANK
  • Embargoed: 19th August 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA5Y9CTCYNFBHOA690JAZWN3X70
  • Story Text: Israeli soldiers returned from battles in southern Lebanon on Friday morning (August 04) as the army presses forward with its offensive.
    Forces on the northern Israeli border with Lebanon awoke to another day of fighting, after the Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz ordered the army on Thursday (August 3) to prepare for a possible push north to the Litani river, some 20 km (13 miles) into Lebanon.
    Some 10,000 Israeli troops have already pushed into southern Lebanon in the ground offensive against Hizbollah.
    Sixty-eight Israelis, including 41 military personnel, have been killed in the conflict, which began when Hizbollah killed eight soldiers and kidnapped two in a cross-border raid.
    Four Israeli soldiers were killed by an anti-tank missiles during fighting on Thursday in southern Lebanon, the Israeli army said.
    Hizbollah rockets killed eight people in northern Israel on Thursday. The eight civilian deaths, in the cities of Acre and Maalot, raised to 27 the number of people killed by rocket fire from Lebanon during the conflict.
    The 12 deaths were the highest number in one day for Israel in more than three weeks of war.
    The latest barrages showed the guerrilla group was still a potent threat to Israel despite Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's declaration on Wednesday (August 2) that Israel had destroyed its infrastructure.
    Launching a ground offensive as far as the Litani would need the approval of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's cabinet, since it would mean sending forces well beyond a planned "security zone".
    Olmert has so far objected to sending Israeli soldiers as far as the Litani, and is not convinced that moving so deeply into Lebanon would halt the rocket attacks at Israel, political sources said.
    The army said earlier on Thursday that it had carved out a zone containing 20 villages up to 6 km (4 miles) from the border.
    Israel has said it has no plan to remain long term in a "security zone" in southern Lebanon similar to the one it gave up in 2000 after a 22-year occupation, but only to hold the strip until an international force arrives.
    Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said 900 people had been killed by Israeli attacks in Lebanon.
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