Israel, Aug. 1 — Up to 10,000 Israeli troops pushed into Lebanon on a wider front today after the Israeli cabinet decided to widen its offensive, aiming to push Hezbollah back from the border before a cease-fire is declared and a multinational force is deployed there.

Israeli troops backed by air support, tanks and armored bulldozers entered Lebanon at four different places along the border ... http://tinyurl.com/pmtan
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TYRE, Lebanon : Hezbollah guerrillas have fought pitched battles with advancing Israeli forces in Lebanon after Israel decided to widen its three-week-old offensive despite accelerating international efforts to broker peace.

Media reports said as many as 20,000 troops were pouring into Lebanon, where three soldiers were reported killed as clashes flared in several hotspots Tuesday along the border zone where Israel wants to eradicate Hezbollah...http://tinyurl.com/lz3r8
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CHTOURA, Lebanon (Reuters) - Helicopters landed Israeli soldiers on hills near the northeastern Lebanese town of Baalbek, a Hizbollah stronghold, on Tuesday, Lebanese security sources said.

The aim of the operation was not immediately clear, they said. An Israeli army spokesman declined to comment...http://tinyurl.com/qdpa3
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Israeli commandos land near Syria

Fierce fighting in Hezbollah stronghold of Baalbek after helicopter insertion

The Associated Press

Updated: 3:45 p.m. PT Aug 1, 2006

BOURJ AL-MULOUK, Lebanon - Israel launched a major attack deep into Lebanon, and Hezbollah said its guerrillas were fighting Israeli commandos on the ground near the eastern city of Baalbek near Syria early Wednesday.

The Israeli army would not comment on the operation near Baalbek, an ancient city that was a former Syrian army headquarters some 80 miles north of the Israeli border. Israel refused to comment. The Web site of the Israeli daily Haaretz reported that “Helicopters put down IDF (military) commandos near Baalbek,” without adding details.

Hezbollah’s chief spokesman said Israeli troops landed near a Baalbek hospital and that fierce fighting raged with guerrilla fighters for more than one hour. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV reported that fighters were involved in a “confrontation with an Israeli unit that landed near Al-Hikma Hospital west of Baalbek.”

Some witnesses said that the hospital had been hit in an Israeli airstrike and was burning.

The attack in Baalbek, the ferocity of other battles Tuesday, the determination of the Israelis to keep fighting and the minimal diplomatic progress toward an immediate cease-fire all indicated the war is more likely to escalate than end soon.
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