(Communicated by the IDF Spokesman)
In operations that began overnight in the southern Lebanese villages of Bint Jbeil, Ramya, Itrun, and Ayara Al-Mantzuri, IDF forces eliminated over 30 Hizbullah terrorists, among them four members of an anti-tank missile cell. The force arrested three terrorists in the village of Shihin and two more in Bint Jbeil.
During the operation forces found and destroyed eight missile launchers and a Hizbullah war room in Ayara Al-Mantzuri, and another missile launcher north of the village of Maron A-Ras.
In addition, IDF reserve forces operating near Ayara Bayde, also in the western sector of southern Lebanon, destroyed a truck carrying weapons including a missile launcher.
An IDF force located a Hizbullah command center in the area of Bint Jbeil and exchanges of fire erupted between the soldiers and the Hizbullah terrorists manning the command post. In the exchanges of fire an IDF soldier was severely wounded and died of his wounds during the rescue attempt which was conducted under heavy fire. Another soldier, a member of the rescue force, was also killed. The names of the soldiers killed are Staff Sgt. Oren Lipshitz, 21, and Staff Sgt. Moran Cohen, 21.
The Hizbullah command center was targeted from the air during the night.
In a separate incident, an anti-tank missile hit an IDF force north of the village of Bint Jbeil wounding six soldiers, one of them severely and another one moderately. A tank that arrived to the location in order to assist evacuate the wounded soldiers was hit by a large explosive device. No injuries were reported.
IDF aircraft carried out over 200 sorties in the past 24 hours, mainly targeting structures used by Hizbullah terrorists as offices and headquarters, launching grounds and five rockets launchers were also targeted from the air.
Besides the fighting, at the IDF's center for coordination of humanitarian aid in Lebanon dealt with four flights of helicopters from Beirut to Cyprus for the purpose of evacuating civilians and bringing in supplies, the landing of six aircraft at Beirut's airport, the docking of two ships, and the movement of 21 aid convoys across Lebanon - most of them UN or Red Cross.