Heavy fighting in southern Lebanese town

Hezbollah fighters battled today to stop Israeli forces from capturing the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbail, where Arab TV stations reported that up to 12 Israeli soldiers had been killed.

In Jerusalem, the Israeli military would say no more than several soldiers had been wounded in heavy fighting at Bint Jbail, which lies two-and-a-half miles north of the Israeli-Lebanese border.

Israel Radio reported in its midday news bulletin that “at least 10 Israeli soldiers had been hit” in heavy fighting against 200 Hezbollah guerrillas in the town. The radio did not specify how many Israelis were killed.

Al-Arabiya, a Dubai-based satellite TV channel, said at least 12 Israeli soldiers had been killed in what is the fourth day of fighting for control of Bint Jbail.

The Qatar-based satellite TV station Al-Jazeera reported that nine Israelis had been killed and 25 wounded in Bint Jbail.

The Hezbollah group’s Al-Manar TV station first reported one Israeli soldier killed and five wounded, but it later cited media reports to say 12 Israelis were dead and dozens wounded.

A senior Hezbollah official, Mahmoud Komati, said Israeli forces had managed to seize a few points inside Bint Jbail, but had not yet taken the town centre.

The Israeli army said several Hezbollah fighters had taken cover in a local mosque.

Hezbollah said “violent confrontations” were taking place between its fighters and Israeli forces attempting to advance towards a hospital in Bint Jbail, which holds the largest Shiite Muslim community in the border area. Hezbollah draws its support from the Shiites.

Fighting has been heavy for days around the border towns of Aitaroun, Maroun al-Ras and Bint Jbail, where Israeli forces are trying to eliminate the guerrillas who have been firing rockets into Israel.

The area controls the high ground in the central sector of the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Bint Jbail is a symbolically important town for Hezbollah as it was a centre of resistance to the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon in 1982-2000.

Meanwhile Hezbollah fired more than 20 rockets into several areas of northern Israel, wounding at least five people, the army and medics said today.

The rockets fell in Haifa, Carmiel, Kiryat Bialik and the areas of Safed and Tiberias, police said. In Kiryat Bialik, five people were wounded, one seriously, medics said. Channel 10 TV said a rocket hit a car in the town.