Israeli commandos grapple with Hizbollah near Tyre

JERUSALEM, Aug 5 (Reuters) Elite Israeli naval commandos fought gun and grenade battles with Hizbollah guerrillas in and around an apartment building near the southern Lebanese city of Tyre overnight, an Israeli officer said today.

The officer and the Israeli army refused to say how the commandos reached the apartment building, but Israeli media said they were dropped from helicopters.

The senior naval officer, who declined to be identified, said eight commandos were wounded, two seriously, in the operation to attack guerrillas suspected of firing long-range missiles at Israel.

The commandos killed seven Hizbollah fighters in close combat, he said. Hizbollah issued a statement denying seven of its men were killed and describing the raid as a failure.

Lebanese security sources said four civilians and a Lebanese soldier were killed during fighting in citrus groves just north of Tyre, a city 21 km north of the Israeli border. Hizbollah said one Israeli soldier was killed and many wounded.

''We could have taken out these terrorists with a missile from the air but we chose to be selective,'' the Israeli naval officer said by telephone.

''With our level of intelligence and capabilities, we can get to every Hizbollah terrorist.'' The officer said the guerrillas in the apartment were responsible for firing at least two missiles yesterday that struck open areas near the Israeli city of Hadera, 80 km from the Lebanese border. That was the deepest Hizbollah rocket strike inside Israel since the war began on July 12.

The guerrilla cell was in the second floor of a five-storey apartment building in a densely populated neighbourhood when the commandos attacked, the officer said.

''As we burst inside, we hit a number of terrorists inside the apartment with close-quarter shots and grenades,'' he said.

''We had two wounded, serious but stable. One was shot in the apartment, the other outside. The others were lightly wounded by bullets and shrapnel from grenades.'' Fierce gun battles broke out with Hizbollah fighters outside the building when the commandos left the apartment, he added.

An army spokesman said attack helicopters provided cover for the commandos.

The head of Israel's northern command, Major-General Udi Adam, told Israel Radio that similar operations would be carried out in the future.

Earlier this week, Israeli helicopter-borne commandos seized five suspected Hizbollah guerrillas and killed at least four gunmen in a night-time raid at a Hizbollah-run hospital in the ancient city of Baalbek, 60 miles northeast of Beirut.

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

REUTERS SHB RK2052