| Hezbollah admits death of
fighter in Israel clashes BEIRUT, Lebanon -
Lebanon's Hezbollah militia confirmed Monday that it had lost a fighter in clashes with
the Israeli army in the disputed Shebaa Farms border district last week.
"Fighter Melhem Hassan Salhab died a martyr in the latest clashes with the Israeli
enemy," a statement from the Shiite militant group said.
Israel said a three-man Hezbollah commando infiltrated the Shebaa Farms last Wednesday in
an apparent attempt to kidnap Israeli soldiers but was forced to flee, leaving behind the
body of one commando.
One Israeli soldier was killed and three wounded in the clashes, which sparked three days
of retaliatory shelling and air strikes against southern Lebanon.
Captured by Israel from Syria in 1967 along with the Golan Heights, the Shebaa Farms are
now claimed by Lebanon with Syrian blessing.
But Israel regards the district as an integral part of the Jewish state, having annexed
the Golan in 1981 in a move never recognized by the international community. |
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