Early reports indicate another military setback for Israel in Lebanon:
[Israeli] security sources said commandos in two vehicles unloaded from helicopters were on their way to attack an office of senior Hizbollah official Sheikh Mohammed Yazbek in the village of Bodai when they were intercepted. After the gunbattle, the Israelis pulled out under cover of fierce air strikes.
Reports of casualties are still coming in:
Hezbollah militia fighters found bloody bandages and syringes on the ground after the battle, leading them to conclude the Israelis suffered casualties. Hezbollah, on its Al Manar television, reported a number of Israeli casualties but did not say whether they were killed or wounded.
Lebanese security officials told the Reuters news agency that three Hezbollah fighters were killed and a half-dozen Israelis were killed or wounded, but Hezbollah did not confirm the toll.
Israel claims it suffered one death and two injuries. The worry, of course, is that the aborted raid–the first major violation of the ceasefire–will prompt a Hezbollah retaliation and re-escalate the conflict.
