JERUSALEM - The Israeli army on Sunday said it had foiled a plot last week by the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah to kidnap one of its soldiers by infiltrating into Israeli-controlled territory.
"Last Wednesday we foiled an attempt to kidnap a soldier on Israeli territory, planned by three men from the terrorist Hezbollah organisation who came from Lebanon," said General Benny Ganz, military commander of the northern region.
"We found this cell and attacked it. One of its members was killed and the others, one of whom was injured, fled, abandoning the corpse of their comrade as well as their equipment," public television quoted him as saying.
"The members of his cell were part of a unit that had been through special training."
Israeli television showed images of material said to have been abandoned by the Hezbollah cell, most notably Kalashnikov assault rifles with night sights, munitions, cameras, knives, and sleeping bags.
Israel and Hezbollah had their firecest clashes for months last week close to the disputed Shebaa Farms area, with one Israeli soldier killed and three others wounded.
The Shebaa Farms were captured from Syria in 1967 along with the strategic plateau but are now claimed by Lebanon with Syrian blessing.
07/03/2005 20:03 GMT