JERUSALEM - Israeli special forces operated deep in Lebanon early Saturday, the army said, making it the broadest operation since a U.N.-brokered cease-fire took effect five days ago. The army said its commandos entered Lebanon "to prevent and interfere with terror activity against Israel, especially the smuggling of arms from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah." The army said the force completed its mission successfully, but one soldier was reported killed and two others were wounded. Such operations would be carried out until an "effective" monitoring force is in place to prevent Hezbollah's rearmament, the army said.
The cease-fire put an end to 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that erupted July 12 after the guerrilla group captured two Israeli soldiers and killed three others in a cross-border raid.
Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, said the U.N.-brokered truce bans providing Hezbollah with arms and Israel is "entitled to act to defend the principle of the arms embargo."
"Once the Lebanese army and the international forces are active on the international frontiers to enforce the resolution then such Israeli activity will become superfluous," Regev said.
Hezbollah said its guerrillas foiled the commando raid, west of their stronghold of Baalbek deep inside Lebanon, sparking a gunbattle that left Israeli casualties. The army refused to confirm any casualties.
Lebanese security officials confirmed the Hezbollah TV report of a drop of Israeli commandos by helicopter on a hill outside the village of Boudai west of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon. Witnesses said Israeli missiles destroyed a bridge during the fighting. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release information to the media, said the Israelis apparently were seeking a guerrilla target in a nearby school but had no other details. The officials also reported heavy Israeli overflights.
The raid marks the first time Israel launched a military operation on such a scale since the cease-fire went into effect Monday. Israeli troops have killed several Hezbollah fighters who threatened their troops in south Lebanon since the cease-fire, and warplanes have flown over the country. The cease-fire allows for self-defense.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said the Israeli commando force landed before dawn and was driving into Boudai when it was intercepted by guerrillas, who forced it to retreat under the cover of warplanes, which staged mock raids. The Hezbollah report said blood-soaked bandages were found later at the landing site outside Boudai, about 10 miles west of Baalbek, indicating there were casualties among the Israelis.
Hezbollah officials on the scene said overflights from Israeli jet fighters drowned the clatter of helicopters as they flew into the foothills of the central Lebanese mountains, dropping commandos and two vehicles they used to drive into the village when the Hezbollah fighters intercepted them in a field. The commandos identified themselves as the Lebanese army, but the guerrillas grew suspicious and gunfire erupted.
Israeli helicopters fired missiles as the commandos withdrew and were flown out of the area an hour later, the Hezbollah officials said.
Baalbek is the birthplace of the Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah. The area in the eastern Bekaa Valley, 60 miles north of the Israeli border, is a major guerrilla stronghold.
Evidently the "fat lady" has yet to approach the microphone.