Hezbollah ambush kills five Israeli soldiers
June 10, 1996
Web posted at: 7:45 a.m. EDT (1145 GMT)MARJAYOUN, Lebanon (CNN) -- Five Israeli soldiers died and six were wounded when Hezbollah guerrillas ambushed their patrol in occupied south Lebanon Monday, security sources said.
It is the deadliest attack in the area in two months.
Also, a Jewish couple was slain Sunday in a drive-by shooting blamed on Palestinian militants near the Israeli village of Geffen, a few kilometers (miles) from the West Bank.
In Monday's attack, security sources said the guerrillas launched rocket-propelled grenades at the Israeli patrol and sprayed them with machine-gun fire.
The attack occurred between the villages of Dabshe and Ali Taher in the central sector of south Lebanon occupied by Israel.
The Israeli victims were evacuated by helicopter to northern Israel, sources in a U.N.-policed area said. Two of the wounded were reported to be in serious condition.
"Our position observed a clash of a major magnitude breaking out in the Ali Taher area in south Lebanon in the early morning hours," spokesman Timur Goksel said.
The Iranian-backed Hezbollah, or Party of God, claimed responsibility. Hezbollah guerrillas aim to dislodge Israel from the zone it has held since 1985 to protect its northern towns from cross-border guerrilla raids.
"Our (holy warriors) ambushed and raked an Israeli patrol with rocket and machine-gun fire at Dabshe area, killing and wounding all enemy soldiers of the patrol," said a Hezbollah communique.
Israeli forces retaliated by shelling Shiite Muslim villages and guerrilla trails near the security zone, killing a Lebanese soldier and wounding a civilian man, police in the market town of Nabatiyeh said. (572K QuickTime movie)
More violence
Monday's clashes are the deadliest in the area since a cease-fire ended a two-and-a-half week Israeli blitz against guerrillas based in Lebanon.
At least 165 people, mostly Lebanese civilians, were killed in the Israeli onslaught. Sixteen Israeli soldiers have been killed in south Lebanon this year.
On Sunday, Hezbollah militants ambushed Israeli forces and their allied Lebanese militia in south Lebanon, wounding several Israelis.
In the case of the couple, police said the gunmen peppered the car with 15 to 20 bullets before fleeing toward Hebron, a largely Palestinian town in the West Bank. The couple's 9-month-old child, who was strapped in a baby seat in the back of the car, was not harmed, police said.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but police suspect Palestinian militants.
Palestinian Justice Minister Freih Abu Medeen told reporters in Gaza in reaction to the killings: "Now expect the unexpected in the area. Maybe there is a new round of violence.
"And who knows? If there is no real achievement in the peace process, if Mr. Netanyahu and his government will turn their back to the peace process...expect more violence."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Two killed in Israeli shooting - June 9, 1996
- Search by Israeli troops prompts attack by Palestinians - June 3, 1996
- Hezbollah bombings in southern Lebanon kill 4 Israeli soldiers - May 30, 1996
- Charges fly as Israel retaliates for Hezbollah attack - May 19, 1996
- Cease-fire announced in Lebanon - April 26, 1996
- At least 60 die in Israeli shelling - April 18, 1996
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