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Israel's ground move on hold

Atul Aneja

DUBAI: Israel has persisted with aerial bombardment across Lebanon, but the proposed ground offensive cleared by its Cabinet on Wednesday has so far failed to materialise.

Senior Israeli official Rafi Eitan said the fresh advance by ground troops towards the Litani river, 30 km from the border, had been kept on hold to give diplomacy a chance to halt the fighting. The Israeli army hopes to capture this area so that Hizbollah fighters are unable to fire short-range rackets into Israel.

Hizbollah said on Thursday that its fighters had destroyed 13 Israeli tanks during combat in an area surrounding its stronghold of Khiam in southeast Lebanon. The Hizbollah apparently struck along the relatively flat terrain of the Khiam plain. Israel has so far not responded to Hizbollah's claim. It has earlier blamed the militant group for launching rocket attacks from this area at the town of Kiryat Shimona, which has now been mostly evacuated.

Troops withdraw

Also on Thursday, Israeli forces have withdrawn from the southern town of Marjayoun after establishing control over it for several hours. Israeli troops had apparently carried out the incursion to search for rockets that it suspected were in the armoury of the Lebanese army.

Security officials said that the troops were unable to find the rockets and subsequently withdrew. The brief intrusion into Marjayoun came a day after Israel lost 15 of its troops during combat with Hizbollah.

Israel has decided to impose a post-8 p.m. curfew along the northern coastal road connecting Beirut with the Syrian border. It has already banned the movement of vehicles in southern Lebanon south of the Litani river.

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