Hawzah News Agency - Every town in south Lebanon has a heroic story to tell from the July War in 2006. Ayta Al-Shaab, however, has many stories. Not only did the border town did witness the raid which led to the capture of two Israeli soldiers at the beginning of the 33-day war, but also its fighters taught the Israeli invaders harsh lessons about bravery and land defending.
Wadi Al-Oyoun, a documentary produced by Al-Manar, talks about the heroic battle which took place when Resistance fighters repelled an attempt by Israeli occupation forces to advance towards the southern border town of Ayta Al-Shaab on the fourth week of the war in 2006.
The name of the documentary refers to the name of a valley in the vicinity of Ayta Al-Shaab, Wadi Al-Oyoun, where 14 members of Israeli Combat Engineering Corps were humiliated by Hezbollah fighters. The battle was the last Israeli attempt of land incursion during July War. The blow which occupation forces were dealt during the assault, kept the IOF from repeating such an attempt!
The documentary contains testimonies by a Resistance military commander and three other fighters who took part in the battle. It also includes testimonies aired by Israeli media of occupation soldiers who were injured during the Israeli assault.
Ayta Key Town
Since the start of the war on July 12, 2006, the axis of Ayta Al-Shaab and the surrounding border towns witnessed several attempts of land incursion by IOF, who tried hard to secure even one military achievement in the area where the two Israeli soldiers were captured by Hezbollah fighters.
The town is strategic for the occupation forces since it includes several Israeli military posts and settlements, a commander in the Resistance says in the documentary.
“Ayta represented one of the major points of engagement between the occupation forces and the Resistance fighters. The two Israeli soldiers were captured in the town’s Khallet Warde, or area 105 as called by IOF. There had been, throughout the 33-day war, desperate attempts by the occupation army to infiltrate into Ayta, in a bid to secure any achievement and boost its forces’ morale,” the military commander of Hezbollah’s command 110 says.
“Hezbollah knew well that IOF will try to enter Lebanon from the path where the two soldiers were abducted, and the Israeli army also knew that this path would be dangerous, and that the Israeli forces would face both IEDs and anti-tank missiles,” an Israeli reporter says.
“The Israeli enemy repeatedly sent its elite forces to Lebanese territories, but they were met by harsh resistance by Hezbollah fighters who were positioned everywhere in Ayta and the surrounding area in a bid to repel any offensive,” the commander says.
The Resistance’s surveillance unit had major role in foiling Israeli attempts of land incursion during the war, according to the documentary.
“The enemy repeatedly tried to deceive Resistance fighters by making fault movements in a bid to cover over other infiltration attempts. However, our fighters were vigilant to all movements by IOF,” says a Resistance fighter of the surveillance unit, known with his nom du guerre “Haroun”.