Israeli commandos grapple with Hizbollah near Tyre

Elite Israeli naval commandos fought gun and grenade battles with Hizbollah guerrillas in and around an apartment building near the southern Lebanese city of Tyre overnight, an Israeli officer said yesterday.

The officer and the Israeli army refused to say how the commandos reached the apartment building, but Israeli media said they were dropped from helicopters.

The senior naval officer, who declined to be identified, said eight commandos were wounded, two seriously, in the operation to attack guerrillas suspected of firing long-range missiles at Israel.

The commandos killed seven Hizbollah fighters in close combat, he said. Hizbollah issued a statement denying seven of its men were killed and describing the raid as a failure.

Lebanese security sources said four civilians and a Lebanese soldier were killed during fighting in citrus groves just north of Tyre, a city 21 km north of the Israeli border. Hizbollah said one Israeli soldier was killed and many wounded.

The officer said the guerrillas in the apartment were responsible for firing at least two missiles on Friday that struck open areas near the Israeli city of Hadera, 80 km from the Lebanese border. That was the deepest Hizbollah rocket strike inside Israel since the war began on July 12.

The guerrilla cell was in the second floor of a five-storey apartment building in a densely populated neighbourhood when the commandos attacked, the officer said.

Fierce gun battles broke out with Hizbollah fighters outside the building when the commandos left the apartment, he added.

An army spokesman said attack helicopters provided cover for the commandos.