Hezbollah claims Israeli soldier killed in heavy fighting
Hezbollah fighters battled to stop Israeli forces from capturing the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbail today, with the guerrilla group’s TV station reporting one Israeli soldier killed and five wounded.
The Israeli army said several soldiers were wounded in heavy fighting at Bint Jbail, but would not be more precise. Israel Radio reported six soldiers wounded.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV said that according to “independent information,” one Israeli soldier had been killed and five wounded today – the fourth day of fighting for control of Bint Jbail, which lies two-and-a-half miles north of the Israeli-Lebanese border.
In a statement on Al-Manar TV, Hezbollah said “violent confrontations” were taking place between its fighters and Israeli forces attempting to advance towards a hospital in Bint Jbail, which holds the largest Shiite Muslim community in the border area. Hezbollah draws its support from the Shiites.
Fighting has been heavy for days around the border towns of Aitaroun, Maroun al-Ras and Bint Jbail, where Israeli forces are trying to eliminate the guerrillas who have been firing rockets into Israel.
The area controls the high ground in the central sector of the Lebanese-Israeli border.
Bint Jbail, which means ‘daughter of the mountain’ in Arabic, is a symbolically important town for Hezbollah as it was a centre of resistance to the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon in 1982-2000.
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