IDF engages in heavy fighting in Lebanon
yaakov katz, jpost staff and ap, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 10, 2006
IDF troops were engaged in heavy fighting against Hizbullah guerrillas in the town of Leboneh in the western sector of southern Lebanon on Thursday night.
The army announced that an Armored Corps soldier was killed on Thursday morning in the southern Lebanese town of Klia.
F.-Sgt. Alon Smocha, 35, from Hod Hasharon, was killed when a Hizbullah-fired anti-tank missile hit his Merkava tank. His funeral was set for 11:30 a.m. on Friday in his hometown's Neve Hadar cemetery.
Another 16 soldiers were wounded throughout the day, including one who was in serious condition.
Heavy exchanges of fire took place while IDF troops battled Hizbullah guerrillas in the town of Markabe in southern Lebanon's eastern sector on Thursday evening.
Warships were firing upon rocket launching sites south of Tyre as well.
Of the 16 wounded soldiers, eight were lightly wounded by an anti-tank missile during clashes in the village of Marjayoun, also in the eastern sector, a day after the fighting in southern Lebanonclaimed the lives of 15 IDF reservists.
Overnight Wednesday, IDF troops moved into Marjayoun and Alhayam - two Lebanese villages in the eastern sector, north of Metulla, said to be Hizbullah hideouts - and took up positions inside the towns.
Hizbullah fired anti-tank missiles towards IDF forces, who responded by returning fire.
Meanwhile, the IDF released the identities the 15 reservists killed on Wednesday:
# Capt. Gilad Shtukelman, 26 from Timrat;
# Capt. Yoni Leon Schmucher, 30, from Beit Nehamia. He was to be buried on Friday at 11 a.m. in Mazkeret Batya;
# Sgt.-Maj. David Shamidov, 25, from Jerusalem;
# St.-Sgt. Nir Cohen, 22, from Maccabim-Reut;
# F.-Sgt. Gilad Sussman, 26, from Eli;
# Sgt.-Maj. Igor Kovalik, 26, from Upper Nazareth, who was laid to rest on Thursday evening at 5 p.m. in the military section of the cemetery in his home town;
# Sgt.-Maj. Noam Goldman, 27, from Tel Aviv, who was buried at 5 p.m. in Kfar Saba;
# St.-Sgt. Benny Sela, 24, from Koranit, whose funeral was held at 8 p.m. in Misgav;
# Maj. Natan Yahav, 36, from Kiryat Ono, was laid to rest at 7 p.m. at the cemetery in Kiryat Shaul;
# St.-Sgt. Adi Salim, 22, of Beit Hashmonai, was buried at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Ramle;
# FSM Asher Reuven Novick, 36, of Kanaf;
# F.-Sgt. Elad Dan, 25, of Kibbutz Eilot;
# F.-Sgt. Idan Kobi, 26, of Eilat, who will be buried at 10 a.m. on Friday in Eilat;
# F.-Sgt. Naor Kalo, 25, from Ma'agan Michael;
# F.-Sgt. Nimrod Segev, 28, of Ramat Gan.
There were three soldiers seriously wounded in the clashes.
IAF warplanes dropped leaflets over northern Lebanon for the first time Thursday, warning trucks off the roads after 8 p.m., residents said.
The leaflets fell north of Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city, some 25 kilometers from the Syrian border. The blanketed area includes the Palestinian refugee camp of Beddawi.
Trucks were being used to carry rockets and missiles to Hizbullah, the single-page documents said. They were signed, "The State of Israel."
Elsewhere, an IAF drone fired a missile into a minibus driving in the eastern Bekaa Valley, killing one person and wounding 12, residents said.
The attack occurred near the town of Rayak, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) east of the provincial capital of Zahle.
Another airstrike targeted a road linking the city of Baalbek, traditionally a Hizbullah stronghold, with the Syrian city of Homs.
