debkafile military analysts on the key Maroun er Ras battle which has claimed lives of six Israel soldiers, injured 18

They are: Major Binyamin Hilman, 27, from Raanana, 1st Sgt. Rafan-El Muskal, 21, from Mazkeret Batiya, 1st Sgt. Nadav Balua, 21, from Carmiel, 1st Sgt. Yonatan Hadasi, 21, from Kibbutz Merhavia, and 1st Sgt. Yotam Gilboa, 21, from Kibbutz Maoz Haim. The sixth name was released Saturday: 1st Sgt Liran Saadia, 21, from Kiryat Shemona.
debkafile‘s military sources: This major engagement has brought out the exceptional qualities of Israeli troops but, it must also be said, the shortcomings developed in six years of warfare against an opposition of inferior fighting caliber, Palestinian terrorists. In South Lebanon, soldiers in their twenties are fighting tough, highly-trained guerrilla fighters – Hizballah and Iranians – for the first time on unfamiliar terrain without air or tank cover.
debkafile‘s military sources: This major engagement has brought out the exceptional qualities of Israeli troops, but it must also be said the shortcomings developed in six years of warfare against an opposition of inferior fighting caliber, Palestinian terrorists. In their first ordeal by fire, Israeli special forces are displaying bravery, determination and self-sacrifice. This is especially marked in the performance of the Maglen Special Unit 551 and the Egoz paratroopers. The Israeli custom of officers and NCOs leading their men into battle has led to the high proportion of fallen sergeants.
In South Lebanon, soldiers in their twenties are fighting tough, highly-trained guerrilla fighters for the first time on unfamiliar terrain without air or tank cover. Choppers are not used for fear of anti-air missile ambushes and the tanks in rugged mountain terrain are at the mercy of densely-placed roadside bombs and heavy Hizballah Katyusha rocket and mortar fire. Two tanks have been blown up.
Ground troops are therefore taking the brunt of the fighting.
Some report to debkafile that in close combat, they have heard officers shouting in Farsi. Just as in Jenin 2002, Israeli forces encountered Hizballah and al Qaeda fighters in support of Palestinians, now they are facing members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards who are aiding Hizballah in Lebanon.
The men come home with hair-raising accounts of storming the hundreds of bunkers and caves in which Hizballah fighters are lurking.
On Wednesday, July 19, Israeli soldiers fought their way into a tunnel in the Maroun es Ras area, blew it up killing the 10-15 fighters inside, and emerged to engage another group of Hizballah hiding in the dense foliage a few yards away. A hand-to-hand battle ensued in which the first two soldiers, 1st Sgt Yonatan Hadasi, 21, and 1st Sgt. Yotam Gilboa lost their lives. Israel’s death toll would have been higher had not rescue and ambulance teams braved heavy fire to extricate the wounded.
Five years of tactics used against the rag-tag Palestinian terrorists – painstaking counter-measures, air strikes on empty buildings, succumbing to diplomatic pressure for restraint, have left the IDF ill-prepared to face tough Hizballah guerrilla methods of warfare. The Shiite terrorists are trained in Iranian Revolutionary Guards facilities and their commanders are graduates of their officers’ schools.
When Maj.-Gen Benny Ganz, commander of ground forces, warned Thursday that the IDF faces a difficult period – “We shall need to upgrade our capabilities over time” – he was really warning the troops that the next ten days to two weeks of combat were potentially costly in lives before the armed forces develops new combat techniques and capabilities adjusted to meeting Iran’s Revolutionary Guardsmen and their disciples.
For the IDF, the Maroun er Ras battle may acquire the epic significance of the Ammunition Hill battle for Jerusalem of the 1967 War. Hizballah and their Iranian sponsors will strive to make it Israel’s Tora Bora, which gave al Qaeda the upper hand over the US army in Afghanistan. The IDF and its top command must not let this happen. A defeat against the hard-line, fanatical Hizballah and its hate-filled Iranian masters is something Israel cannot afford.