The Lebanese Resistance group, Hizbollah said that one of their fighters was killed Friday when Israeli helicopters opened fire on the group's strongholds in southern Lebanon.
Security sources said he was killed when an Israeli missile hit the anti-aircraft post he was manning.
Lebanese police said earlier that the Israelis had fired some 10 missiles on the region, one of them hitting a residential quarter in the village of Nabatiyeh.
According to a report by United Press International (UPI), Hizbollah fighters and an Israeli-backed militiaman were killed Thursday while another was wounded in separate attacks inside the occupied security zone of south Lebanon.
Citing security and militia sources, the agency said an Israeli patrol spotted during the night a five-member squad of Hizbollah fighters east of the Taibeh position in the central sector of Israel's self-proclaimed security sources.
The Israeli soldiers opened fire on the group, triggering a 30-minute clash during which two Hizbollah men were killed. The three others managed to flee the zone and return to their base unharmed, according to security sources.
There were no casualties among Israeli ranks. Later, another Hizbollah squad detonated a roadside bomb against a patrol of the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army militia near the Houla-Marakaba posts in the border zone. The SLA confirmed that one of its militiamen was killed and another wounded.
In retaliation, Israeli gunners bombarded locations on the other side of the fence, damaging houses and cars in several villages.
ISRAELI MINISTER: RESTRAINT IS POLICY AFTER HIZBOLLAH ATTACKS
Israel is following a policy of cautious restraint in south Lebanon despite the explosion of violence in the region in recent days, Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said Friday.
"We are holding to a policy of restraint and patience regarding the provocations from the Hizbollah aimed at escalating the situation during Passover," Sneh told public radio.
Many Israeli tourists flock to the northern Galilee region, near Lebanon, during the Passover holidays.
Hizbollah has stepped up their attacks since Israel last week delivered a letter to the United Nations pledging to end its occupation of south Lebanon by July 7.
"Our reaction to these kinds of attacks will of course be different once the withdrawal has taken place," Sneh said.
"We will react more quickly and more powerfully, because we will never allow the security situation to deteriorate and our places along the border to suffer" – (Agencies)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
