Lebanon: 2 soldiers moderately injured in exchanges of fire
IDF soldiers operate in village of Tayyibah, from where dozens of rockets have been fired at Israel. Two soldiers moderately injured in battle, two lightly hurt. Fighters kill at least three terrorists, locate weapons cache, including anti-tank missiles, RPG rocket launchers
Another soldier was moderately wounded Sunday morning. The army was looking into the possibility that he was accidentally hurt by friendly fire.
After forces left the village of Bint Jbeil on Saturday, the IDF launched another ground operation, this time northwest of Metula.
At least three terrorists were killed in the operation in the village. In addition, the IAF hit a group of two Hizbullah members.
Forces of the Nahal division and the 401 armors division entered the area Saturday night and headed to the village of Tayyibah, another Hizbullah stronghold which houses terror infrastructures and terrorists. The area is also being used to fire Katyusha rockets at Israel.
The soldiers found a large cache of weapons, including 10 anti-tank missiles and RPG rocket launchers. Dozens of rockets have been launched from the Tayyibah area recently.
At the start of the hostilities, the 162nd Division, under the command of Brigadier General Guy Tzur, received the eastern command of the northern border. This is while the Galilee Division, who typically holds the entire line, was responsible for the battles in the western command, in which the battles of Maroun al-Ras and Bint Jbeil took place.
IDF sources estimate that high friction is expected in the western command as well. "One can certainly define the area as a terrorist region," said a military source, "We have drawn our conclusions from battles in other areas, we have learned our lesson and are about to embark on another mission. There is no intention whatsoever to occupy this region or any other, only to arrive, to act, and when we're done, to get out."
On Saturday the IDF completed one of its central missions in the framework of Operation Change of Direction. Most of the forces have withdrawn from Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon after a battle in the village in which 26 terrorists were killed, most of them hit by the ground forces of the paratrooper brigade, and some of them killed by the aircraft of the IAF.
The IDF reports that until now upwards of 200 Hizbullah members have killed, 40 of which were senior officers of different ranks, including those responsible for the area and their deputies. The IDF is making arrangements for operational plans in preparation for the planned reserve call-up, among them larger operations. However, every operation of this sort requires authorization from the political apparatus.
