Israel ousts Hizbollah from key town, loses six soldiers

Gantz told reporters at a daily briefing that Hizbollah had suffered dozens of casualties in and around the town.

‘‘In summary, it can be said that the area of Maroun al Ras, that had served as a (Hizbollah) vantage point over Avivim, now serves as an (Israeli) vantage point over Bint Jbail,’’ Gantz said, referring to a suspected Hizbollah stronghold nearby.

Earlier in the day Israel bombed mobile telephone and television masts in Lebanon and pledged to pursue its war on Hizbollah with more military incursions, but said it plans no full-scale invasion for now.

Thousands of Lebanese civilians have fled North fearing Israel will invade and expand an 11-day-old bombardment of Lebanon which has killed 348 people.

Resisting international pressure for a ceasefire, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said before a trip to the region that the conflict’s root causes — in her view Hizbollah’s armed presence on Israel’s border and the role of its allies, Syria and Iran — had to be tackled first.

Three Israeli air raids struck a relay station used by several Lebanese television stations and a mast of the Alfa mobile telephone network in Christian areas North of Beirut.

The bombing started a fire at facilities used by LBC television, affiliated to the Lebanese Forces faction that emerged from a Christian civil war militia backed by Israel. Witnesses said Israeli warplanes launched repeated raids on the town of al Khiam, just North of the border. They also struck near the Port of Tyre.

Hizbollah fired rockets from fields around the southern town of Marjayoun, witnesses said. The army said at least 10 rockets hit towns across northern Israel, wounding 10 people.

Across South Lebanon, families piled into cars and pickup trucks and clogged roads to the North after Israeli planes dropped leaflets yesterday warning residents to flee for safety beyond the Litani river, about 20 km from the border.

But witnesses said an Israeli air strike hit one of the few remaining crossings over the river early today, trapping hundreds of cars on the southern bank for several hours.