Ten Lebanese villages that rockets were launched from have been order to leave their homes immediately as the IDF continues to comb Lebanon for munitions caches, hideouts, bunkers and launch-sites. Residents of the ten additional villages from which rockets have been fired were warned to evacuate their homes by 7 PM Saturday ahead of IAF air strikes.
The Meron A-Ras area of southern Lebanon has been taken by IDF ground troops. The Hizbullah bunkers in, around and below the village have all been raided and the IDF has now stationed troops in the village. Security forces in the area report scores of Katyusha shells, missile storage areas and missile-launchers, which were concealed in the village's mosque. | They took the high ground and are now looking down at the Hizbullah postions. |
Over the weekend, air strikes in Lebanon destroyed a building described as 'Hizbullah Headquarters,' a half-dozen missile launchers, communications lines and a cache of long-range missiles, anti-tank missiles and guns. Several television broadcast facilities were also hit, presumably due to their complicity in broadcasting Hizbullah's Al-Manar television channel. | Now reportedly back on the air. |
More than 1,800 targets have been hit by Israel's Air Force since the beginning of the Reengagement War.
Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said the air strikes will continue as long as they have to. "It takes time to hit at terrorism," he told reporters Friday. "We will fight terror wherever it is, because if we do not fight it, it will fight us - if we don't reach it, it will reach us." Halutz added that Hizbullah has made a practice of using mosques to hide the Katyusha missile launchers.
Thousands of Israelis received their Tzav Shmoneh emergency call-up orders Thursday evening. Most will be taking the place of members of the standing army who will be headed into Lebanon in what the IDF brass is calling a limited ground invasion. As a result, in addition to the two million Israelis spending the Sabbath away from their northern homes or in bomb shelters, thousands more made due without their fathers and sons.
Responding to the extensive coverage of recent IDF casualities in both the print and televised media, IDF Commander of the North Maj.-Gen. Udi Adam urged Israelis to refrain from shedding tears for the fallen until the war is won.
"We have to change our way of thinking," he said. "Human life is important but we are at war and it costs human lives. We won't count the dead at present, only at the end. We'll cry for the dead and will encourage their brothers in arms. There are more places like Meron A-Ras, and unfortunately we'll have to reach them." Asked the common question voiced by Israel's media - whether the IDF will become "bogged down in the Lebanese mud" - Maj.-Gen. Adam urged Israelis exercise patience. "This is not a short story," he warned, "but it will not be never-ending either."
Meanwhile, in his weekly radio address, US President George W. Bush reassured those concerned that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's upcoming visit is intended to pressure Israel that Rice would "make it clear that resolving the crisis demands confronting the terrorist group that launched the attacks and the nations that support it." Bush, referring to Syria and Iran, added: "Their actions threaten the entire Middle East and stand in the way of resolving the current crisis and bringing lasting peace to this troubled region."
MK Zahava Gal-On (Meretz), who is advocating immediate negotiations with Hizbullah, responded to Bush's statements that forcing an early cease-fire would not be prudent, saying, "We must not turn the IDF soldiers into Bush's cannon fodder."
DEBKA adds: Israel sends more forces and tanks into S. Lebanon, gains control of Maroun er Ras which overlooks Hizballah command posts. The Maroun er Ras tunnels were finally cleared out Friday night with short range ground missiles after a ferocious three-day battle. | Wonder if they have those thermobaric warheads we are using in Afghanistan? |
In the banana and citrus groves around Tyre, from which rocket fire batters the coastal towns of northern Israel, special forces have taken over from the air force and for the third day are fighting hand-to-hand to flush out the hundreds of Hizballah fighters hiding in a rabbit warren of fortified trenches and tunnels. They were supported Saturday, July 22, by Israeli navy gunships opposite Tyre port. |
Israeli forces have pushed forward from the mountaintop village of Maroun er Ras captured Sunday to the fringes of Bint Jubeil, Hizballahs south Lebanese capital. Monday they suffered nine wounded in face to face combat. Whereas TV cameras showed much footage of the Maroun er Ras engagement, the IDFs other battle pockets are kept under wraps.