Israeli planes hit Lebanon after Hezbollah kills soldier

JERUSALEM, March 2 (JTA) — Israeli fighter planes struck Hezbollah targets Sunday in southern Lebanon in retaliation for earlier clashes that left one Israeli soldier dead and another seriously wounded. Sgt. Lior Shabtai, 19, was killed and an officer was wounded last Friday when Hezbollah gunmen fired a missile at an Israeli tank. Shabtai was buried Sunday in the military section of the cemetery in his hometown of Rishon le-Zion. Last Friday’s battle was a continuation of clashes the previous night. During the exchanges, some 20 Hezbollah gunmen tried to overtake an Israeli position in the security zone. At least four Hezbollah gunmen were killed, according to an army spokesman. During last Friday’s battle, Hezbollah forces launched rockets and mortars at the Israeli position from a number of locations, some of them residential. Israel later filed a complaint with the five-nation group monitoring the cease-fire that went into effect last April at the end of Israel’s 16-day Operation Grapes of Wrath. According to the terms of the cease-fire, neither side was to launch attacks on or from civilian locations.