Pages From a Fighter’s Diary
Real stories told by resistance fighters about July war: Page Three.
The Resistance fighters had never before witnessed a day like
yesterday. Zionist tanks burned in all directions. In Al-Qawzah, and
near the school in Ayta El-Shaab, countless "Israeli" tanks and
armored vehicles were destroyed. In Bint Jubeil - Maroun Al-Rass
square, the scenario was the same.
Many might find the events of last night hard to believe . During
Monday, and Tuesday night, several units of the Zionist soldiers
tried, once again, to advance through the apple orchards near
the"Metulla" settlement. There they were surprised by the "Men of
God," who were awaiting them in the orchards. The two forces
clashed, and Olmert’s troops were stymied by the minefields, while
those who escaped the mines were caught in the fire of the
Resistance fighters. The fight lasted for many hours, and the
occupation forces were compelled to retreat behind the line of fire
to hide behind the houses of the settlers in "Metulla."
While the enemy’s media lied to the public and to their people,
claiming that Zionist soldiers had taken specific locations in
Kafarkela and Udaissa, Arabic and Western media reporters were
passing through Kafarkela– watched by the resistance fighters and
then by the residents of the village– and they all noticed the
burning troop carriers and tanks, and the deserted small arms of
Zionist soldiers who had been injured or killed in the field.
The sun rose, and its rays caressed Jabal Amel... the mountain of
men... the mountain of the Men of God. Units of the Zionist enemy
were trying to advance from the Shtoola settlement, near Ayta El-Shaab,
in the same area where the two "Israeli" soldiers were initially
captured. Fierce clashes occurred between the Resistance fighters
and the Zionist soldiers, after which the enemy claimed to have the
area under control. Now, as the "Israeli" units tried once again to
advance, to their shock they fell into an ambush set up by Hezbollah
Resistance fighters. In a matter of minutes, a Merkava tank and
several military bulldozers were destroyed, and 11 "Israeli"
soldiers fell dead or wounded; the legs of three of them later had
to be amputated. In an attempt to retrieve the casualties and the
destroyed vehicles, a Zionist unit advanced from A-Raheb post, but
an advanced group of Resistance fighters targeted them with
anti-tank missiles, and the Zionist unit was burned in the fire of
rockets and 60 mm mortar rounds.
Meanwhile, the hubs in Kafarkela-Udaissa flared up again with fierce
clashes. Near Ayta el-Shaab, the fighters' groups of the Islamic
Resistance lured a Zionist military unit consisting of more than
fifteen tanks and vehicles– that was advancing from the western side
of Ayta El-Shaab– to the north of Shtoola settlement. The Resistance
fighters let the unit advance until it reached the center of the
battlefield, then the fire team of the Resistance group attacked it
with mortar rounds of all calibers while the Resistance ground
forces destroyed all 15 tanks in the space of twenty minutes.
The "elite" soldiers of Golani -"Israeli" Brigade No. 1 and the
First Breachers' Battalion leapt out of their burning tanks; those
who survived hid behind the smoking tanks and the dead bodies of
their "elite" comrades. Others abandoned their weapons and tried to
escape to Al-Raheb post or the Shtoola settlement. And there a
battle they will never forget occurred, and the Resistance fighters
counted twenty casualties among the Golani soldiers by one o’clock
in the afternoon. Throughout the course of the afternoon, the enemy
suffered 35 additional casualties, and the total number of
casualties that the Resistance fighters counted among the enemy's
"elite" forces reached 75, all of whom still lay in the battlefield
of Ayta El-Shaab. There is hardly any need to say that the enemy
failed to retrieve them despite their attempts to do so with
helicopters, and warplanes providing cover for them.
Yesterday, the tanks melted with their crews inside. During the
hours in the breaks between firing, the Resistance fighters rotated
shifts in sniping at the Zionists who lay in the battlefield. They
asked me about the Zionist raids on the Lebanese villages, whether
new massacres were committed, and whether the martyrs buried
underneath the wreckage were retrieved afterwards. They smile
through battles, stand strong during combat, and practice the most
effective military tactics. The Zionists enemy testified to their
capabilities and competence yesterday and the day before by
broadening the battlefield and confrontation area, assuming that by
doing so they would disperse the strength and capabilities of the
Resistance. However, what they discovered in the battlefield was
that each square and each village presented the same epic battle,
which was repeated with each "Israeli" attempt to achieve even the
slightest progress, in Maroun Al-Rass, Ayta El-Shaab, Bint Jubeil,
Udaissa, Kafarkela, and Al-Qawzah. Naturally, the Zionists are
imposing strict rules to prohibit their media from publishing the
facts about the "Israeli" losses and defeat, but they won't be able
to hide them for long– especially once the photos of the military
media branch of the Islamic Resistance are published.
In the Southern village of Al-Taybeh, three Zionist soldiers got
lost. Suddenly, they found themselves face to ace with a single
Resistance fighter, who did not hesitate and shot them instantly.
His orders were to leave the bodies of the enemy's soldiers and
retreat, giving priority to his own safety. However, our man
returned with three helmets that had belonged to Golani soldiers, as
well as their weapons and binoculars. Apparently, he had decided to
offer an "Israeli" helmet and M-16 as dowry for his fiancée or wife,
and said: "If I shall return well and sound, this will be a dowry
for the 'hajja'."
Until evening, the Resistance fighters prevented the enemy from
retrieving the "Israeli" wounded and dead soldiers from the
battlefield. They noticed the Zionist units delaying their attempts
to retrieve their wounded troops, leaving them to bleed for hours
and hours. The soldiers suffered in their hiding places and
repeatedly called for rescue, but they got no answer whatsoever. The
delay lead the Zionist soldiers to realize that their leadership had
abandoned them on the battlefield, and to try to escape on their
own.
A Resistance man at the battlefront said, "I feel certain that the
Resistance fighters will capture some other "Israeli" soldiers in
the coming days; or they will achieve a new, distinguished military
ground operation. Truth be told, describing the battle does not pay
it sufficient dues." He added that the Zionist soldiers appeared to
be in a miserable state of horror even before the clashes started,
and that whenever the resistance groups fired at them, they would
hide behind each other or drop to the ground and stick to it– a
scene that the Resistance fighters -young men and middle-aged
combatants alike- will never forget.
Yesterday and the previous night represent one day God's of many
memorable days on the battlefield, and it was hard to determine who
exactly was launching the rockets and bullets– the Resistence
fighters or the earth, the rocks, the mountains, or the olive trees!
It would not be exaggeration if I say of those young men– "God's
Men"– everything fights with them and on their side... "but Allah
threw" (Al-Anfal: 17).
- Source: Al-Diyar Newspaper – 02/08/2006
