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Israeli army finds its foe is well-prepared

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 24, 2006

ON THE ISRAEL-LEBANON BORDER - Israeli soldiers returning from the front in Lebanon talk of battling an intelligent, well-prepared and ruthless guerrilla army whose fighters don't seem to fear death, the Associated Press reports.

The troops describe Hezbollah guerrillas hiding among civilians and in underground bunkers two or three stories deep - evidence, they say, that Hezbollah has been planning this battle for many years.

It's hard to beat them, one soldier said, because they aren't afraid.

Most of the soldiers declined to give their names under orders from superiors. Their comments underscored the enormous challenges Israel faces as it seeks to neutralize Hezbollah, which captured two Israeli soldiers in a brazen cross-border raid on July 12, provoking a fierce Israeli response.

Despite Israel's enormous firepower that it says has killed about 100 Hezbollah fighters, some military analysts say the war isn't going particularly well for the Jewish state, which is encountering tougher than expected resistance. It has been unable to push the guerrillas back significantly or stop hundreds of rockets from slamming into northern Israel.

For the past few days Israel has been fighting for control of the tiny southern Lebanese village of Maroun al-Ras, located on a hilltop less than 500 yards across the border.

The guerrillas aren't fighting like Israeli soldiers thought they would, an Israeli said - they're fighting harder. One soldier said the guerrillas wore olive green army uniforms to confuse them because Israelis wear the same.

Others said Hezbollah fighters hid underground in reinforced bunkers until they thought it safe to attack.

Soldier Michael Sidorenko, 21, said he saw Hezbollah fighters firing from behind Lebanese civilians.

"That's why our soldiers are getting killed," he said.

Not every soldier described Hezbollah as fierce. One said that when Israeli troops show up in vehicles, the guerrillas "run like chickens."

Others wondered why Hezbollah had not attacked the nearly two-dozen army vehicles and hundreds of troops camped out in easy striking range below the hill on which Maroun al-Ras sits.

Most believed the guerrillas would rather aim their rockets at major Israeli population centers such as Haifa.

The fighting, they said, showed the guerrillas had used six years since Israel withdrew from Lebanon to stockpile weapons and study tactics.

[Last modified July 24, 2006, 01:44:52]