MAJOR Offensive
Right after publishing the last post, I came across this item. Israel has unleashed 10,000 armored troops into Lebanon. Coupled with a deep penetration raid into Baalbek.
This is not a raid. This very well could be the big push.
After the raid on the ancient city of Baalbek ended, the Israeli military said it had captured some guerrillas and hit others. The military statement said all its soldiers returned unharmed to their base, but gave no further details.
The raid on Baalbek, once a Syrian army headquarters 80 miles north of Israel, was the deepest ground attack on Lebanon since fighting began 21 days ago.
The ferocity of the battles in the Bekaa Valley and across southern Lebanon on Tuesday and the determination of the Israelis to keep fighting quelled expectations for an early cease-fire, although U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said an agreement on how to end the conflict was possible within days, not weeks.
Hezbollah's rocket attacks into Israel, meanwhile, diminished. Hezbollah fired just 10 rockets across the border Tuesday, well below an average of about 100 a day since fighting began.
Early Wednesday, Hezbollah's chief spokesman Hussein Rahal told The Associated Press Israeli troops landed near the Hezbollah-run Dar al-Hikma Hospital in Baalbek, about 10 miles from Lebanon's border with Syria.
"A group of Israeli commandos was brought to the hospital by a helicopter. They entered the hospital and are trapped inside as our fighters opened fire on them, and fierce fighting is still raging," Rahal said early in the operation.
Rahal dismissed as "untrue" reports that the Israeli commandos managed to snatch some patients from the hospital and spirit them away in helicopters.
Fighting between Israeli commandos and Hezbollah guerrillas around the hospital raged for more than four hours and planes dropped flares over the city during the clashes, witnesses said. Israeli warplanes staged more than 10 bombing runs around the hospital as well as on hills in east and north Baalbek where Hezbollah's Shiite supporters live, they said. There was no immediate word of casualties.
Hezbollah only got off ten rockets all day? No wonder I could not find any news to update on that situation. Frankly, at this point it looks like Hezbollah may be in very deep trouble. If Israel attacks up the Bekaa, this may be an envelopment move as others have speculated.
By crosspatch, Tuesday, 1 August , 2006 @ 10:05 pm
Haaretz reports:
The IDF reported at daybreak on Wednesday that its troops returned from the operation to their base in Israel unharmed. IDF also reported that Hezbollah militants sustained some casualties during the fighting and that several militants were captured by the IDF and taken back to Israel.
By Mike's America, Tuesday, 1 August , 2006 @ 11:31 pm
I’ll be interested to see if the IDF found any high value terrorists at that “hospital.”
I’ve been disappointed in the Israeli press efforts. We heard a bunch of reports about Iranian material being found in the Hezboo strongholds but then the story just disappeared. They need to keep putting out the evidence of Iranian backing of the Hezboos.
By DWMF, Wednesday, 2 August , 2006 @ 5:27 am
From what I’ve heard, senior Hez officers were in the hospital recovering from wounds. The IDF swooped in and scooped them up. They’re probably being interrogated right now. Watch for more cool moves when the intelligence from this raid bears fruit.