Subscribe to Print Edition | Sun., February 03, 2008 Shvat 27, 5768 | | Israel Time: 21:46 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Israel Defense Forces troops advancing toward a village in southern Lebanon on Saturday. (AP) Last update - 21:44 03/02/2008 Hezbollah shoots down IAF helicopter deep inside Lebanon 24 IDF soldiers killed Saturday in south Lebanon By Amos Harel, Yoav Stern and Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz Correspondents, and Agencies Tags: Second Lebanon War Twenty-four Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed and another 11 seriously wounded in heavy clashes Saturday with Hezbollah forces in south Lebanon, after Israel dramatically expanded its ground operation in the area. Five air crewmen were believed to be dead after an Israel Air Force helicopter was shot down by Hezbollah fire late Saturday, the IDF said. Hezbollah claimed the helicopter was struck by an anti-tank missile. IDF sources confirmed a helicopter had gone down and that the five crewmen were missing. Eight of the fatalities have been named so far. The funerals of two soldiers were announced: Corporal Ya`ar Ben Giat, 19, of Kibbutz Nahsholim is to be buried at 6.30 P.M. Sunday at the kibbutz' cemetery; Staff Sergeant Tzachi Krips, 20, of Kibbutz Hama'apil is to be buried at 6.30 P.M. Sunday at the kibbutz' cemetery. Advertisement The six other fatalities were identified as Corporal Tamer Amer, 20, of Julis; Staff Sergreant Itay Steinberg, 20, of Carmei Yosef; Sergeant Yaniv Temerson, 21, of Tzipori; Sergeant Yosef Abitboul, 19, of Gan Ner; Sergeant Yonathan Ankonina, 21, of Netanya; and Captain Shai Bernstein, 24, of Be'er Sheva. Under cover of intense artillery fire, IDF forces reached the Litani River, which is some 20 to 30 kilometers inside Lebanon, military officials said Saturday evening. As part of the expanded operation, IAF helicopters dropped a large number of Israeli troops deep inside Lebanese territory on Saturday, in the largest operation of its kind since 1973. IDF troops were engaged in heavy exchanges of fire with Hezbollah, as forces thrust northward to the Litani River under cover of intense artillery fire. IDF sources said more than 80 Hezbollah fighters had been killed in the clashes over the weekend, at least 40 of them on Saturday. Israel has nearly tripled the number of forces in Lebanon as part of its expanded ground war, and expects to fight for another week, despite a United Nations cease-fire resolution, IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said Saturday. Halutz said IDF troops would stay in Lebanon until an international force arrives. "We have almost tripled our forces that are operating in Lebanon," Halutz told reporters. A top IDF official has said that the army will stop its offensive as soon as it is ordered to do so by the political leadership and later it will begin to retrace its steps to uncover any pockets of resistance that may remain in the area. UN Middle East envoy Alvaro de Soto told Reuters on Saturday the UN force could begin deploying in seven to 10 days, suggesting there is still some time before the "immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations," as called for in the resolution. At least 23 soldiers taken to Rambam Hospital Dozens of soldiers were hurt during the fighting in Lebanon on Saturday. At least 23 of them were taken to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa for treatment. None of the soldiers killed on Saturday were reservists. An IDF spokeswoman said an IDF officer and two soldiers were killed Saturday when Hezbollah fighters fired an anti-tank missile at their tank. She said another soldier died when Hezbollah launched a similar attack on a structure in the area where he and other troops had taken position. Two soldiers from the Golani Brigade were killed in an accident that occured when an IDF tank accidentally ran them over in the village of Shakif-al-Amal in the East. Two other soldiers were wounded in the accident, one seriously and the other lightly. In the eastern section, one soldier was killed when an anti-tank missile hit his tank close to the village of Kanatra. Another soldier was killed when troops exchanged fire near the village of Hadata on the eastern section. Three other soldiers were seriously wounded in separate attacks on tanks and an armored vehicle near the villages of Tyre and Dir Sirin. With the expansion of the ground offensive in Lebanon, four divisions were operating in south Lebanon and most of the activity was focused in areas from where Hezbollah has been firing short-range rockets into Israel. Sources in the IDF General Staff said four to seven days would be needed to complete the occupation of the area. An IDF soldier was killed in clashes with Hezbollah in the village of Rashef in south Lebanon on Friday and another sustained moderate wounds. According to the IDF, at least ten Hezbollah militants were killed overnight. IAF strikes and ground assaults kill at least 19 across Lebanon Israel Air Force jets dropped leaflets over Beirut on Saturday with leaflets urging residents to "shake the destroyers of Lebanon off your shoulders," referring to Hezbollah. IAF strikes and IDF ground attacks continued on Saturday, with missiles and artillery killing at least 19 people across Lebanon, mostly in the south. The deadliest attack was on homes in the village of Rashef, some 7 kilometers (4 miles) from the Israeli border, where at least 15 civilians were killed, security officials said. Israeli missiles also hit a vehicle in Kharayeb, a village in the Zahrani region about halfway between Beirut and the Israeli border, killing three people and wounding five, officials said. A Lebanese soldier was killed overnight in an air raid near an army base in the western Bekaa Valley, the army said. An IAF strike destroyed a road leading to the only remaining border crossing to Syria - Arida, on the northern coast - severing the last escape route for besieged Lebanese and for humanitarian aid entering the country. IAF jets targeted the highway linking Arida with the northern city of Tripoli, at a point about 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the border, officials said. The crossing remained open, but the road leading to it was impassable, and vehicles were spotted driving off-road through ditches early Saturday. A separate raid destroyed a bridge linking the southern cities of Tyre and Nabatiyeh with Sidon. Shrapnel from missiles fired on the village of Insariyeh, halfway between Sidon and Tyre, hit a vehicle carrying Lebanese journalists working for a Swedish television channel, and one of them was wounded, security officials said. IAF jets struck an apartment buildings that house a Hezbollah charity organization in the heart of the eastern city of Baalbek, wounding three people. Another four people were injured in an airstrike on a house west of Baalbek, officials said. Electricity was out in Tyre and Sidon, after IAF jets struck transformers at power plants in both coastal cities. An official at the power plan in Sidon, George Makhoul, said it could be 10 days before power was restored. Security officials reported several air strikes in Akkar province, located about 97 kilometers north of Beirut Bookmark to del.icio.us   'British Oskar Schindler' Nicholas Winton, who saved 669 Jewish children during the Holocaust, is up for the Nobel. Pride of Israel Tennis: Shahar Peer beats Russia's Dinara Safina to give Israel 1-0 lead in the Fed Cup.   1.   Where Have All The Displaced Hezbollah Militants & Families Gone? 08:11  |  Lavi 11/08/06   2.   IAF 08:33  |  Simon Asmar 11/08/06   3.   Where Have All The Displaced Hezbollah Militants & Families Gone? 09:39  |  Lavi 11/08/06   4.   the murders 09:41  |  peace worker 11/08/06   5.   Mega or Gega?? 09:43  |  Joelle 11/08/06   6.   SIMON: You Don`t Have The Stomach For A Full Israeli Operation! 10:02  |  Lavi 11/08/06   7.   IAF won war 10:15  |  Sandy 11/08/06   8.   Media wars 11:25  |  Dutchmen in Israel 11/08/06   9.   Humanitarin situation in South Lebanon 11:26  |  Bor de Wolf 11/08/06   10.   To Peace Worker 11:28  |  Dutchmen in Israel 11/08/06   11.   To Joelle 11:32  |  Dutchmen in Israel 11/08/06   12.   Is there a Lebanese Army? 12:13  |  Lasse 11/08/06   13.   Lebanese victims excluded from Headlines 12:28  |  kristian 11/08/06   14.   IAF 12:40  |  jason 11/08/06   15.   hizbollah 12:47  |  juna 11/08/06   16.   To kristian 12:47  |  Terry Mathis 11/08/06   17.   to number 4 13:35  |  moshe 11/08/06   18.   Muslims 15:15  |  Susan 11/08/06   19.   Re: the murders No4 15:31  |  rob 11/08/06   20.   Read this "peace worker"!! 15:59  |  Ben 11/08/06   21.   # 13 Victims 16:00  |  ChanahS 11/08/06   22.   Re. To Rob N° 18 16:04  |  Antony 11/08/06   23.   IAF running out of paper 16:23  |  lebanese 11/08/06   24.   To Dutchmen in Israel 16:29  |  Lebanese in Holland 11/08/06   25.   ISRAEL KILLS LEBANESE IN COLD BLOOD 16:49  |  LEBANESE 11/08/06   26.   IAF running out of paper 2 16:54  |  Another Lebanese 11/08/06   27.   TO DUTCHMEN IN ISRAEL 16:56  |  LEBANESE IN USA 11/08/06   28.   #23 Lebanese: I wouldn`t be so smug... 17:06  |  Ben 11/08/06   29.   Civilians?????? 17:30  |  Joe 11/08/06   30.   To the Dutchman in Israel 17:56  |  Ali 11/08/06   31.   #28 typical politicians 18:06  |  lebanese 11/08/06   32.   To #23 18:13  |  LEBANESE 11/08/06   33.   TO #28, not #23 18:43  |  LEBANESE 11/08/06   34.   to Simon Assmar no.2 19:03  |  ze`ev 11/08/06   35.   US Support 20:36  |  Zip 11/08/06   36.   Photo Fraud? 21:35  |  Kaelinda 11/08/06   37.   #13 Kristian 21:38  |  Kaelinda 11/08/06   38.   #31 re #28 21:45  |  Kaelinda 11/08/06   39.   Lebanese displaying idiotic thinking... 22:11  |  Ben 11/08/06   40.   More civilians hit 23:32  |  Bor de Wolf 11/08/06   41.   Bravo Israel 00:08  |  Sam 12/08/06   42.   IAF is so humane I am in tears 00:11  |  lebanese 12/08/06   43.   The Masterwork of an Idiot 00:16  |  Mark Lincoln 12/08/06   44.   to 38: IAF high moral standards 00:27  |  lebanese (23,28) 12/08/06   45.   I`m Astonished 00:28  |  Tarek 12/08/06   46.   To Rob and a reason why Israel should change 00:30  |  Bry 12/08/06   47.   Re: Lebanese displaying idiotic thinking... 00:43  |  smug lebanese 12/08/06   48.   to #6, Lavi, don`t have the stomach? 00:43  |  Eric 12/08/06   49.   #6 Lavi: Hehehe 00:49  |  Victor Sawma 12/08/06   50.   ANOTHER MASSACRE 00:50  |  tomski 12/08/06   51.   Your wrong Bor de Wolf 01:05  |  Mark Lincoln 12/08/06   52.   so what... 01:27  |  Peter 12/08/06   53.   Mistatements of fact 01:29  |  Alan 12/08/06   54.   #35: israel`s solution: kill kill kill kill kill kill 01:31  |  American Majority 12/08/06   55.   whoops 04:12  |  LisaV 12/08/06   56.   What? Why killing them? 04:17  |  Modafir 12/08/06   57.   to Alan 04:23  |  Modafir 12/08/06   58.   The world is not be surprised 04:27  |  Jenna 12/08/06   59.   A Convoy for A Baby 04:35  |  BRANT 12/08/06   60.   VICTOR: Learn To Read & Understand English Before You Respond! 04:50  |  Lavi 12/08/06   61.   Drone Strike Refugees 05:29  |  Samuel 12/08/06   62.   Palestinians 05:30  |  Prakesh 12/08/06   63.   The censorship continues - then 05:44  |  Mark Lincoln 12/08/06   64.   Modarir just as 05:54  |  Mark Lincoln 12/08/06   65.   To #60 -Lavi 05:58  |  an american 12/08/06   66.   Modarir just as 05:59  |  Mark Lincoln 12/08/06   67.   To Prakesh #62 06:04  |  an american 12/08/06   68.   Mark Lincoln - Marjahoun killings (3rd try) 06:06  |  Bor de Wolf 12/08/06   69.   #15 juna 06:23  |  Ilana 12/08/06