Israel snatches Hizbollah men in Lebanon raid-army

JERUSALEM, Aug 2 (Reuters) Israeli commandos dropped from helicopters seized five suspected Hizbollah guerrillas and killed at least four other gunmen in a night-time raid deep into Lebanon early today, military officials said.

The raid, at a Hizbollah-run hospital in the ancient city of Baalbek, which lies about 60 miles (100 KM) northeast of Beirut, was the deepest Israeli operation into Lebanon since 1994, Israeli media reported.

At least 19 civilians, including four children, died in air strikes that accompanied the raid, Lebanese authorities said.

Israeli military officials said two top commando units took part, backed by helicopter gunships and unmanned drones.

Footage supplied by air force surveillance showed the troops fanning out around several buildings in the dark. Figures were seen firing machine-guns from courtyards, and one car that approached the scene was blown up by the Israeli special forces.

Commandos also filmed the interior of the hospital, and were shown unloading Kalashnikov rifles from drawers in an office.

''The army and air force proved their ability to go everywhere, even when Hizbollah turns a hospital into a headquarters,'' said mission commander Brigadier Yochanan Locker.

''Fighting in the enemy's homefront, in a place where Hizbollah feels immune and protected, has profound operational significance,'' he said.

Lebanese security sources said at least three low-ranking members of Hizbollah, a Shi'ite Islamist group, were among those seized. But Hizbollah denied they belonged to the group.

Israel's Channel Two television said the real target of the raid could have been a senior deputy to Hizbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, who himself has survived several air strikes on his headquarters. But the deputy escaped, Channel Two said.

The detainees, under interrogation, could still help Israel boost a dearth of intelligence on the tight-knit enemy militia. Two other Hizbollah men were captured in early ground assaults.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in a Reuters interview, described the Baalbek mission as ''an extraordinary operation''.

Asked if the detainees could be released in exchange for two Israeli soldiers whose capture by Hizbollah in a deadly July 12 border raid triggered the Lebanon offensive, Olmert said: ''It's too early, they have to get used to being in Israeli custody.'' REUTERS SBA BD2345