Israeli helicopters attacked the southern port city of Tyre Saturday in a dawn raid that Hizbullah said was a failed attempt commando operation which left one Israeli dead.
A Lebanese army soldier also died in an air raid on an army position at the city's northern entrance that destroyed an anti-aircraft battery and a tank, security officials said. The Israeli army said eight of its elite troops were injured in Tyre. It said two were in serious condition.
A Hizbullah official earlier told AFP that an Israeli helicopter landed at Jall al-Bahr, an area of orchards at Tyre's northern entrance and then fell victim to a Hizbullah "ambush".
The operation was preceded by intense bombardments of dozens of villages south and east of Tyre which have been largely deserted by their inhabitants.
A Hizbullah statement said Israeli commandos tried to land in the orchards of the village of Chabriha, just north of Tyre, at 3:30 a.m. but were repelled by Hizbullah fighters and Lebanese soldiers who heavily clashed with the forces.
In a separate section of Tyre, a rocket fell close to the Palestinian refugee camp of Buss, killing two people on a motorbike, witnesses said.
Also Saturday, Israeli warplanes repeatedly bombed Beirut's southern suburbs. The Israeli army said it hit nine buildings used by Hizbullah.
In eastern Lebanon, israeli jets carried out four air raids shortly before day break, including one on the road linking the town of Hermel with the Syrian city of Homs, residents said. The road was closed because of the heavy damage, they said.
On Saturday morning, six Israeli were lightly wounded and 10 others were treated for shock after a barrage of 11 Katyusha rockets were fired by Hizbullah to the suburbs of Haifa, according to Israel Radio.
