Stealing into enemy territory is always a risky venture, but Israeli military commanders didn't guess just how treacherous it would prove last week. In a botched special operation in southern Lebanon, Israel lost 11 elite commando fighters and a military doctor in a battle with local militias. It was the country's worst one-time loss in the 12 years it has maintained its "security zone" in southern Lebanon, a 5-mile-wide strip Israel occupies ostensibly to protect its northern border from attack. The debacle will undoubtedly sharpen opposition within Israel to continuing that presence.
The naval force that crept onto the Lebanese coast...
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