Israeli helicopter gunships raided a coastal base of a hard-line Palestinian terrorist group in Lebanon on Saturday, destroying a rubber dinghy apparently being prepared for use in a seaborne raid against Israel.
The attack by Israeli forces targeted the marine base of Ahmed Jabril’s Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command in the Ein Hilweh refugee camp near Sidon.
Israeli military sources said that all its helicopters returned safely to base.
Lebanese police said that two men, a woman and a 12-year-old boy were injured in the attack.
The raid appears to have been the result of careful intelligence-gathering prior to the attack.
Israeli planes had flown several reconnaissance missions over the area and apparently spotted the dinghy, which had been kept outside.
Reports from Sidon said that a jeep with Syrian army license plates removed the remains of the boat from the scene. Reporters were prevented from photographing the vehicle.
The air attack came just a few hours after Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, the spiritual leader of the Iranian-backed Shi’ite Hezbollah organization, called for united armed resistance against Israel by all sects in the region.
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