The Big Push?

Israel is reported striking deep into the Bekaa valley and are hitting Baalbek with what appears to be a major operation.

Israel Defense Forces commandos reportedly landed by helicopter late Tuesday night near the Hezbollah stronghold of Baalbek in what Lebanese security sources described as a major operation against suspected Hezbollah positions.

Lebanese security sources said the troops landed as aircraft launched several strikes near Baalbek, which is located in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. (Click here for map)

One Lebanese officer saying the Israel Air Force presence in the air above the ancient city was "unprecedented."

The IDF refused to comment on the reports.

The operation began with at least five rapid air strikes on Baalbek and its surroundings at 10:20 P.M. - three hours before the end of Israel's self-imposed two-day pause in air attacks. Helicopters fired rockets and heavy machinegun fire at targets near a hospital in Baalbek and other sites in the city, witnesses said.

Witnesses in Baalbek said they saw dozens of IAF helicopters hovering over the city. They said the hospital in Baalbek, filled with patients and wounded people, was bombed by IAF helicopters late Tuesday. Plumes of burning smoke billowed from the hospital after it was directly hit, they said.

"The extreme, unprecedented number of aircraft indicates the possibility that the Israelis are planning to land troops, but we cannot yet confirm that," a security official said earlier, on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

Flares held aloft by parachutes lighted the night sky to a daytime brilliance, the official said.

Four hours into the operation the fighting continued, witnesses said. IAF warplanes staged more than 10 bombing runs at 2.20 A.M. (2320 GMT) Wednesday around the hospital as well as on hills in east and north Baalbek. The planes also dropped flares over the city while the heavy fighting was raging around the hospital, they added.

Shortly after the IAF raids began, electricity was cut off, plunging Baalbek and other neighboring villages in total darkness.

IAF helicopters also attacked a target 15 kilometers west of Baalbek, starting a huge fire, witnesses said. It was not immediately known if the target was controlled by Hezbollah or the Lebanese army.

Hezbollah claimed that the IDF commandos were trapped inside the hospital and were engaged in fierce fighting with guerilla fighters who surrounded the facility. There was no independent confirmation.

"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," Hezbollah spokesman Hussein Rahal told AP.

Rahal said IAF jets were attacking the surrounding guerillas with rockets.

"The units have been surrounded by Hezbollah fighters and heavy fire is covering the area," said a Hezbollah source.

"They [the Israelis] are firing everywhere and trying to get out of the area," the source said.

Rahal said Hezbollah guerrillas were using automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. He dismissed as "untrue" reports that the commandos managed to snatch some patients from the hospital and spirit them away in helicopters.

Who are they after? This mission sounds like they knew exactly who they were after and what they wanted. Rick Moran thought it might be a big push into the Bekaa. His updates speculate about what high value target would be worth this effort. A couple of kidnapped soldiers, maybe? 

Or the opening bars of the big push?