hist2004
05-26-2004, 10:01 AM
On September 5, 1997 a number of elite Israeli naval commandos landed on Lebanon's coast,
north of Sidon. Speculataion about their mission was that they were trying to assassinate
a senior Shia Muslim cleric of the Hizbullah movement.The Israeli army gave no explanation
for what the naval commandos of one of the country's most celebrated units, known as
Flotilla 13, were doing when they landed in the dark early hours of that Friday south of the
Lebanese port of Sidon and started moving inland.The army said the force had been "on
its way to its mission" when it was struck by a powerful explosive device and came under
fire from Amal and Party of God guerrillas and regular military-Lebanese Marine Commandos
who executed an L-shaped ambush. The clash took place outside a 15-km (nine-mile)-deep
security zone which Israel occupies in south Lebanon.
The force's commander, 32-year-old Lt. Col. Joseph Korakin, was killed in the first burst of fire.
Ten of his men were also killed. Israel immediately dispatched a rescue team in a giant CH-53
helicopter. A rescue force of helicopters and naval ships arrived, joining in a battle that lasted
until dawn as the rescuers evacuated the dead and wounded and searched for a missing soldier.
The soldiers loaded their dead and wounded into the helicopter and continued fighting. Mortar
shells exploded nearby and shrapnel hit the CH-53, but it was able to take-off. The rescue force
remained at the scene, continued fighting and looked for the missing soldier. However,his body
was dismembered and they did not identify him in the darkness. The unit's doctor, 28-year-old
Maj Yitzhak Ben-Tov, was killed. Before sunrise, the army decided to evacuate the force. Assault
helicopters fired at the enemy and under their cover a CH-53 returned,picked up the men and took
off.
Ehud Barak,a former Israeli chief of staff, told Israel army radio that the missing soldier was probably
carrying explosives on his back that blew up during the clash. An Israeli military source said 12 Israeli
navy commandos have been killed and four wounded in the fierce battle.The source told United Press
International one of the dead commandos was left at the scene.
A member of the Amal leadership, Ahmad Baalbaki, told reporters that his fighters intercepted the
Israeli commandos "while they were preparing the explosives."Baalbaki estimated that there were
between 20 to 30 soldiers in the Israeli commando squad. In four hours of fierce fighting with guerrillas
and Lebanese security forces one civilian woman and five others were injured, while four Amal
fighters and three from the pro-Iranian Hezbollah were also wounded,according to hospital and guerrilla
sources.
A report that the Israelis were met by explosions from bombs planted in the area, which was reiterated by
Amal officials in Beirut, fueled some speculation of an intelligence leak. But Israeli commanders denied the
possibility, and radio reports suggested that a chance encounter with Lebanese guerrillas might have led
to the detonation of the explosives carried by the Israelis.
Regards,
Hist2004
north of Sidon. Speculataion about their mission was that they were trying to assassinate
a senior Shia Muslim cleric of the Hizbullah movement.The Israeli army gave no explanation
for what the naval commandos of one of the country's most celebrated units, known as
Flotilla 13, were doing when they landed in the dark early hours of that Friday south of the
Lebanese port of Sidon and started moving inland.The army said the force had been "on
its way to its mission" when it was struck by a powerful explosive device and came under
fire from Amal and Party of God guerrillas and regular military-Lebanese Marine Commandos
who executed an L-shaped ambush. The clash took place outside a 15-km (nine-mile)-deep
security zone which Israel occupies in south Lebanon.
The force's commander, 32-year-old Lt. Col. Joseph Korakin, was killed in the first burst of fire.
Ten of his men were also killed. Israel immediately dispatched a rescue team in a giant CH-53
helicopter. A rescue force of helicopters and naval ships arrived, joining in a battle that lasted
until dawn as the rescuers evacuated the dead and wounded and searched for a missing soldier.
The soldiers loaded their dead and wounded into the helicopter and continued fighting. Mortar
shells exploded nearby and shrapnel hit the CH-53, but it was able to take-off. The rescue force
remained at the scene, continued fighting and looked for the missing soldier. However,his body
was dismembered and they did not identify him in the darkness. The unit's doctor, 28-year-old
Maj Yitzhak Ben-Tov, was killed. Before sunrise, the army decided to evacuate the force. Assault
helicopters fired at the enemy and under their cover a CH-53 returned,picked up the men and took
off.
Ehud Barak,a former Israeli chief of staff, told Israel army radio that the missing soldier was probably
carrying explosives on his back that blew up during the clash. An Israeli military source said 12 Israeli
navy commandos have been killed and four wounded in the fierce battle.The source told United Press
International one of the dead commandos was left at the scene.
A member of the Amal leadership, Ahmad Baalbaki, told reporters that his fighters intercepted the
Israeli commandos "while they were preparing the explosives."Baalbaki estimated that there were
between 20 to 30 soldiers in the Israeli commando squad. In four hours of fierce fighting with guerrillas
and Lebanese security forces one civilian woman and five others were injured, while four Amal
fighters and three from the pro-Iranian Hezbollah were also wounded,according to hospital and guerrilla
sources.
A report that the Israelis were met by explosions from bombs planted in the area, which was reiterated by
Amal officials in Beirut, fueled some speculation of an intelligence leak. But Israeli commanders denied the
possibility, and radio reports suggested that a chance encounter with Lebanese guerrillas might have led
to the detonation of the explosives carried by the Israelis.
Regards,
Hist2004