3 reserve battalions called up
Defense ministry approves draft Monday night. Reserves to take over in Judea and Samaria, regular forces to move north
Defense Minister Amir Peretz approved Monday night the draft of three reserve battalions – infantry and engineers. The forces will be drafted starting Tuesday morning and will replace regular forces in Judea and Samaria. The regular forces will help in the northern array.
As of today, infantry and engineer corps are operating to destroy Hizbullah outposts in the line of fire. Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Maj. Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky, revealed, in a Monday press conference at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, that in recent days, forces were operating in a ground offensive against Hizbullah outposts in Rajar village.
'This stroke was a destructive one'
There were several exchanges of fire during the operation, which took place east of the Lebanese border. The forces entered the village and destroyed two of the organization's outposts. The outposts, in the northern part of Rajar (in Lebanese sovereign territory), constituted a constant threat to IDF forces in the southern part of Rajar, which is in sovereign Israeli territory. Rajar is a weak point in terms of security and has been the focus of many difficult confrontations. For example, in November 2005, a kidnapping attempt took place, which was foiled at the last minute by an Israeli sniper.
In the press conference, Kaplinsky also mentioned the IDF's hits on Hizbullah strongholds in the Dahiya neighborhood in Beirut. "This stroke was a destructive one, and this region, which was a symbol of Hizbullah, turned into an island of abandoned swords. Very few terrorists are still in the neighborhood."
He added, "I can say that we've already attacked dozens of targets in Beirut, targets that served as Hizbullah headquarters. We attack 130 sites for launching rockets and other missiles. We attacked more than 105 targets serving as terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon and tens of targets for storing weapons and munitions. We struck down directly more than 20 terrorist cells that tried to operate weapons during the course of the operation in Gaza. We attacked naval radars and several bridges. We blocked several roads in Lebanon and tried to impose an aerial blockade by attacking airport runways."
He concluded by saying, "despite our many accomplishments, and despite the fact that things are progressing well, Hizbullah is still firing rockets. Granted they are being launched smaller quantities, but the barrage still continues against Israeli population centers. We will do everything to reduce this shooting."
