Hezbollah

Israeli prosecutors indicted three Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas on charges that include helping to carry out a deadly operation to snatch two soldiers. The three men, all in their 20s, were also charged with murder, attempted murder and belonging to a terrorist group. The trial opened in Nazareth District Court.

A senior U.S. official Thursday expressed strong disagreement with the British decision to begin contacts with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, revealing a rare split between the two closely allied nations. The official said the Obama administration doesn't believe, as the British do, that there are separate military, political and social wings of the Shiite Muslim militia group, and that it is acceptable to deal with the political wing.

Hezbollah guerrillas fired missiles at an Israeli army outpost, killing one soldier and injuring three, the Israeli army said. The guerrillas shot at least six missiles at the army camp, Lebanese security officials said. The Israeli army said the camp was hit by light weapons, mortar shells and antitank fire. The Israelis and their allies, the South Lebanon Army, returned fire, the army said. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the retaliatory attack.

An armored column of Israeli troops and militia forces rumbled into the Syrian-held part of southern Lebanon on Friday and stormed a stronghold of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, killing at least five extremists, security sources said. Israeli military officials initially said they were not involved, but an army spokeswoman said later that Israeli troops participated in one of two attacks staged by their militia allies, the South Lebanon Army. In a battle with rockets, mortars and heavy machine guns, the Hezbollah fighters tried to prevent the Israeli-led force from entering the village of Meidoun, the sources said.

The eldest son of Hezbollah's leader has been killed in fighting with Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, and Israeli troops are holding his body, the guerrilla group said Saturday. Speaking at a rally Saturday night, Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said he was proud his 18-year-old son, Hadi, had been killed in Friday's clash. "I thank God and praise him for his ultimate grace and kindness by choosing a martyr from my family," he told 2,000 supporters here.

Israeli warplanes blasted pro-Iranian guerrilla bases in south Lebanon on Monday, in Israel's first air raid on Lebanon since it signed a peace agreement with the Palestine Liberation Organization a week ago. Police said they had no immediate reports of casualties. In Jerusalem, the Israeli army said the targets were bases used by the pro-Iranian Hezbollah (Party of God).

Re "U.S. Hopes to Rival Hezbollah With Rebuilding Effort," Aug. 17 It seems a little ironic that only now is the Bush administration realizing that to win hearts and minds it is better to help the people who have been adversely affected by another petty war. It will be interesting to see who wins the hearts and minds of the displaced Lebanese -- Hezbollah, on the ground with actual physical help, or Halliburton, with an open-end, no-bid contract and...

Israel said Friday that it killed a Hezbollah explosives expert in southern Lebanon earlier in the week. Israeli Army Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz said the Israeli army on Tuesday "caused the death of a Hezbollah explosives expert northeast of Baalbek, which is [62 miles] from the border with Israel." He identified the man as Zahi Naim Hadr Ahmed Mahabi, but he gave no further details.

Two Arab Israelis were indicted Thursday on charges of spying for the armed Lebanese group Hezbollah, but their supporters dismissed the allegations and accused authorities of harassing Israel's Arab minority. State prosecutors accused Amir Makhoul, director of Ittijah, a network of Arab advocacy groups, of meeting a Hezbollah operative in Denmark in 2008 and agreeing to serve as an agent for the militant group. Israeli authorities say he passed along information about security facilities in Israel, including some sites belonging to the Israeli spy agency the Mossad, the domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet and defense contractor Rafael.

A businessman was charged with providing satellite broadcasts of a Hezbollah television station to New York-area customers, authorities said. Javed Iqbal, 42, was arrested on conspiracy charges in the alleged enabling of the broadcasts of Al Manar, which was designated by the U.S. government this spring as a global terrorist entity, U.S. Atty. Michael J. Garcia said in a statement.