Libanon

[tnccat]

8 Golani soldiers killed in fierce battle in Bint Jbail

A well-planned Hizbullah ambush on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of Bint Jbail on Wednesday devastated Battalion 51 of the Golani Brigade, and left eight soldiers dead, including three officers as well as another 22 wounded.

Dozens of Hizbullah gunmen, armed with anti-tank missiles, machine guns and geared up in night-vision goggles and bulletproof vests, set a trap for a force of Golani infantrymen led by Lt.-Col. Yaniv Asor, commander of Battalion 51. At 5:00 a.m. Wednesday, Asor and his men asked the Golani command center for permission to enter a part of Bint Jbail on the outskirts of the town, which has been described by the IDF as Hizbullah's terror capital in southern Lebanon. Col. Tamir Yidai, commander of the brigade, gave the green light for the operation.

Asor and his men moved quickly through a batch of some 15 one-story homes in the village, home to 20,000 Shi'ite Lebanese who mostly fled north in anticipation of the IDF raid. But as the troops moved cautiously through the narrow alleyways, a Hizbullah force opened a wave of gunfire and missiles at the Israeli force, wounding and killing several soldiers in the first moments of the battle. As Asor and his men fought to tighten their battle lines and regain control of the situation, other Hizbullah cells flanked them from the side and opened fire on the battalion as well as other IDF positions in the town.

The battle lasted for several hours during which Asor and his men sustained heavy casualties while succeeding in killing at least 40 Hizbullah guerillas, some in gun battles at point-blank range. Then began the evacuation of the wounded, which due to the incessant enemy fire lasted six hours and during which four IAF helicopter pilots risked their lives by landing in enemy territory. Troops from Sayeret Golani as well as soldiers from Battalion 51 lugged stretchers carrying their wounded comrades three kilometers until they reached a location in which the helicopters could land. The landings were conducted for just under one minute at a time beneath a cover of smoke grenades and massive artillery fire before the helicopters took off to evacuate the wounded back to Israeli hospitals. [..]

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