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Israeli soldiers carry wounded soldier at hospital in Haifa. (Reuters)
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BEIRUT — At least 13 Israeli soldiers were killed on Wednesday, July 26, in fierce battles with Hizbullah fighters, with the resistance group asserting it has long-term plans and enough ammunition to fight for years.
Thirteen troopers of Israel's elite Golani Brigades were reported killed and 12 others wounded as Hizbullah fighters battled the invading forces in the Bint Jbeil town, four km (2,5 miles) inside Lebanon, reported the Doha-based Aljazeera news channel.
Hizbullah sources said their fighters had foiled Israeli attempts to evacuate casualties from the area.
"Our men can hear the screams of their wounded calling for help," one source told Reuters.
Israeli army radio had earlier reported that 13 soldiers were "hit" in heavy fighting around Bint Jbeil.
If confirmed, the death toll would be the heaviest suffered by the Israeli army since it launched its two-week offensive against Lebanon.
Israeli ground forces have been meeting stiff resistance from Hizbullah fighters around Bint Jbeil over the past several days. Two Israeli soldiers were killed and 14 troops were wounded Monday.
Bint Jbail, a major town, is about 2 kilometers north of the hilltop village of Maroun al-Ras, which is less than 500 meters from the border.
Guerrilla War
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Nasrallah said Hizbullah rockets would now target areas "beyond Haifa".
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The Lebanese resistance group is an organized, well-trained and well-equipped force and is fighting hard.
"We have set plans to fight the Zionist enemy for as long as two years," Ghassan Darwish, a Hizbullah's media officer, told IslamOnline.net.
Hizbullah has drawn war plans that take into account all security, social, military and relief dimensions.
"We also have plans on combat battles and on how to interrupt the enemy's communications," Darwish said.
"Our previous experience of fighting the Zionist enemy has taught us how to expose the weak points and avoid the strengths.
Darwish said Hizbullah is also winning the intelligence war against the Israeli enemy.
"We have discovered many spy networks not to mention the Israeli failure to catch or target any of our leaders."
He boasted that the resistance fighters are well-prepared and trained to inflict heavy losses on the invading army.
"Hizbullah is not a classic army but rather pursues a guerrilla-styled war in which all military techniques are used to ambush the enemy and inflict heavy losses," said Darwish.
"From the very beginning, we have sought to drag the enemy into ground fighting.
"The resistance group has fortifications on the ground that the enemy has never imagined. This will reflect on the Israeli casualties."
Israeli soldiers return from forays into Lebanon saying Hizbullah's network of bunkers and tunnels is more sophisticated than expected.
Long Arm
The Hizbullah media officer also boasted the resistance group's strategic missile force.
"We have warehouses packed with missiles of which the Israelis only tasted a few."
Hizbullah also has long-range missiles that can hit the heart of Israeli, Darwish said.
"We have the capabilities to hit Tel Aviv and other locations beyond Tel Aviv. We are keeping many surprises in store for the enemy."
In a television address on Tuesday, July 25, Hizbullah chief Hasan Nasrallah threatened to hit "beyond Haifa".
"If matters develop, we will choose the time when we will move beyond, beyond Haifa."
The Lebanese resistance group has showed Haifa, Israel's third-largest city 35km (20 miles) south of the Lebanese border, with barrages of rockets since the conflict erupted.
A week ago, Israeli officials claimed to have knocked out half of Hizbullah's rocket launchers and suggested that another week or two would finish the job of incapacitating the group.
Hizbullah is still launching 100 rockets a day at Israel, nearly as many as it did at the start of the war.
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