Nouvelles du Liban

voici les dernieres nouvelles du quotidien Al Nahar libanais. attendons la suite des evenements en esperant que ca se reglera pour le mieux. pour ceux qui aimerait en debattre... srael Launches Major Operation Against Lebanon in Search of 2 Soldiers Captured by Hizbullah The Israeli army launched a ground and air assault on south Lebanon Wednesday as Hizbullah announced that it captured two Israeli soldiers along the border with the Jewish state. "Our planes, tanks and artillery are operating inside Lebanese territory," an Israeli army spokesman said, stressing the offensive began after the kidnapping of the two soldiers. The military said the capture took place near the collective farm of Zarit, on the border with Lebanon on what it said was Israeli territory. Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz confirmed that two soldiers had been captured by Hizbullah and held Lebanon directly responsible for their fate. "Israel holds the Lebanese government fully responsible for this morning's attack along the northern border," Peretz said in a statement released by the defense ministry. "Lebanon is directly responsible for the fate of the soldiers and must act immediately to locate them, prevent any harm to them and return them to Israel," the statement added. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Hizbullah will pay a "heavy price" for its actions. The Israeli army called up a rapid deployment division of 6,000 soldiers to the country's northern border following the capture of 2 soldiers by Hizbullah, a military source said. Lebanese security officials said that six Israeli soldiers were killed in the fighting. The Israeli army confirmed casualties among the troops, but would not say whether soldiers had been killed. Hizbullah said in a statement that it had captured the two soldiers in order to secure the release of detainees held in Israeli prisons. "At 09h05 this morning, Hizbullah captured two Israeli soldiers near the border with occupied Palestine, and the captives have been moved to a safe area," the statement said. Lebanese security officials said two civilians were killed and three injured in an airstrike on the Qasimiyeh bridge, at the mouth of the Litani river about 30 kilometers north of the Israeli border. Two other civilians were wounded when an Israeli helicopter fired rockets on the Tair Harfa region near the border as aircrafts continued striking the infrastructure and Hizbullah positions in southern Lebanon. The air raids apparently were to block any escape route for the fighters who may be taking the captured soldiers to areas further removed from the border in order to prevent an Israeli rescue mission. The Israeli army said the strikes followed rocket attacks on northern communities from Lebanon. Israeli tanks were also firing artillery rounds at southern Lebanese villages, the Israeli military said. Medics said four Israelis were wounded by the rocket fire on the western Galilee. Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV station reported that Israeli artillery was pounding the fringes of the villages of Aita el-Shaab, Ramieh and Yaroun in the hills east of the coastal border port of Naqoura. Israeli troops and Hizbullah guerrillas occasionally clash along the border in southern Lebanon. The latest flare-up came as Israel continued its two-week-old offensive against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip to try to win the release of a captured Israeli soldier.(AP-AFP-Naharnet)

Beirut, 12 Jul 06, 09:46