Israeli troops enter Lebanon

2006-07-17 13:43

Jerusalem - Israeli ground troops have entered southern Lebanon to attack Hezbollah bases on the border, a government spokesperson said on Monday.

Israel's six-day-old offensive against Hezbollah following the capture of two Israeli soldiers has been an aerial campaign. The government spokesperson, Asaf Shariv, said the Israeli army chief of staff confirmed that ground troops were also in Lebanon.

Israel has been reluctant to send ground troops into southern Lebanon, an area that officials say has been heavily mined by Hezbollah and could lead to many Israeli casualties.

Israel would also want to quickly withdraw from the area, rather than get involved in a prolonged conflict like its 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in May 2000.

The bloody nature of the fighting at the that time and the high number of casualties finally forced the government to cave into public pressure to withdraw from southern Lebanon and end the contentious occupation

Israeli jet shot down

Meanwhile, Lebanese TV stations reported that an Israeli military aircraft had gone down near Beirut, but there was no confirmation from Lebanese officials.

Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation showed footage of a burning object crashing into the ground in the Jamhour district near the Hezbollah stronghold of southern Beirut, which have been under Israeli air attack for several days.

It described the object as an F-16 fighter jet.

Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said the aircraft was a helicopter gunship.

- AP