Associated Press,
BEIRUT: Israeli special forces operated deep in Lebanon early Saturday, the army confirmed, making it the broadest violation of a five-day-old U.N.-brokered cease-fire that put an end to 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah guerillas.
The army said its commandos entered Lebanon “to prevent and interfere with terror activity against Israel, especially the smuggling of arms from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah.”
In Lebanon, Hezbollah said it foiled the Israeli commando raid early Saturday near its stronghold of Baalbek. But the Israeli army said the force completed its mission successfully, and that such operations would be carried out until a multinational force is in place to prevent Hezbollah's rearmament.
Lebanese security officials confirmed a report on Hezbollah TV that Israeli commandos were dropped off by helicopter outside the village of Boudai west of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release information to the media, said the Israelis apparently were seeking a guerrilla target in a school. The officials also reported heavy Israeli overflights.
The provincial government official, Bekaa Valley Gov. Antoine Suleiman, told the privately owned Voice of Lebanon radio station that Israeli soldiers landed outside Baalbek and brought two vehicles with them.
The raid marks the first time Israel launched a military operation on such a scale since the cease-fire went into effect Monday. Israeli troops have killed several Hezbollah fighters who threatened their troops in south Lebanon since the cease-fire, and warplanes have flown over the country. The cease-fire allows for self-defense.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said the Israeli commando force landed before dawn and was driving into Boudai when it was intercepted by guerrillas, who forced it to retreat under the cover of warplanes, which staged mock raids.
The Hezbollah report said blood-soaked bandages were found later at the landing site outside Boudai, about 10 miles west of Baalbek, indicating there were casualties among the Israelis.
Hezbollah officials on the scene said overflights from Israeli jet fighters drowned the clatter of helicopters as they flew into the foothills of the central Lebanese mountains, dropping commandos and two vehicles they used to drive into the village when the Hezbollah fighters intercepted them in a field. The commandos identified themselves as the Lebanese army, but the guerrillas grew suspicious and gunfire erupted.
Israeli helicopters fired missiles as the commandos withdrew and were flown out of the area an hour later, the Hezbollah officials said.
Witnesses reported seeing bandages and syringes at the site. They also said a bridge had been destroyed about 500 yards from the landing site. The witnesses said they believed it was destroyed by Israeli missiles.
Israel said late Friday its warplanes have not attacked Lebanon since an Aug. 14 cease-fire halted 34-days of fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli forces.
Baalbek is the birthplace of the Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah. The area in the eastern Bekaa Valley, 60 miles north of the Israeli border, is a major guerrilla stronghold.
The U.N. Security Council cease-fire resolution calls for an immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations.
In letters to Lebanese and Israeli leaders, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has warned the two countries against occupying additional territory and told them to refrain from responding to any attacks “except where clearly required in immediate self-defense.”
Annan also told Israel and Lebanon that once the cessation of hostilities took effect there must be no firing from the ground, sea or air into the other side's territory or at its forces.
