IDF moves more troops into south Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces is expanding the deployment of its forces in southern Lebanon. Large forces crossed the border last night and the Hezbollah announced that the IDF has taken over the village of Maroun al-Ras, where the two sides fought a tough battle during the past 48 hours.

Also yesterday, Syrian Information Minister Muhsan Bilal warned that Syria will not remain idle if Israel invades Lebanon, explaining that a penetration of southern Lebanon would bring Israeli ground forces within 20 kilometers of Damascus.

At this stage, no IDF ground forces have entered the village of Bint Jbayel. Senior officers told Haaretz last night that the operation is moving "slowly and carefully, under heavy fire, from the air, tanks and artillery, in order to soften up resistance."

The government has not yet approved a ground operation in the area south of the port city of Tyre, where many of the rocket attacks against Haifa are known to have originated. On the other hand, it appear that the IDF will soon take similar action against rocket attacks targeting the Galilee panhandle.

Over the last few days, the IDF called up reservists in a unit that takes responsibility for the civilian population in areas under military control. GOC Northern Command Major General Udi Adam said no other reservists are being sent to southern Lebanon at this time, but that the IDF should prepare for the possibility that there will be another call-up.

Meanwhile, rockets continued to rain down on cities and towns in the north of the country yesterday. Two men were killed, in Haifa and Kiryat Ata, and more than 90 were injured in about 90 rocket attacks. Three of the injured were in serious condition, 28 were moderately or slightly injured and the remainder were suffering from shock.

More than 30 rockets fell yesterday in Haifa, where nine warning sirens were sounded during the day. Thirteen rockets hit the city and its environs during the first attack, in which the two men were killed.

The dead men were Habib Awad, 48, of Ibalin, who was working in a carpentry workshop in the Kiryat Ata industrial zone when it was hit a rocket and Shimon Glikblich, 60, of Haifa, was driving on a main street when the rocket struck the hillside and ricocheted onto his car.

There was relatively little combat in Maroun al-Ras yesterday, the 12th day of fighting in Lebanon. More paratroopers entered the area around dawn, accompanied by members of the Armored and Engineering Corps, and took control of key positions in the outskirts of the village. They also prepared to bomb bunkers and weapons caches there.

The troops met up with relatively little opposition, a sign that most Hezbollah operatives had already withdrawn from the area.

An officer with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon was seriously wounded near the village, and flown to an Israeli hospital. The IDF said he was hurt by Hezbollah fire.

The paratroopers are holding positions that are located up to three kilometers into Lebanese territory. Additional forces now being sent in will apparently take over hilltops within a similar depth.

"The depth here doesn't matter at all," said General Adam. "There are places we have to enter from a tactical perspective and there are places we don't have to go into."

The Israel Air Force bombed hundreds of targets in Lebanon yesterday, focusing on rocket launchers in the Tyre region, from which Hezbollah has been launching Katyushas at Haifa. Despite the IAF bombings, rocket fire continued to rain down on the Haifa region. The air force also struck targets in the Bekaa area, and provided air cover for ground forces operating in southern Lebanon.

"The air campaign is not yet completed. I think that all in all, we are making progress," said Adam. Calling for patience, he added: "The idea is to finish this with a victory."