Operation area :

An Israeli marine commando unit known as "SHAITET 13" landed on the Lebanese shore using rubber boats at about 23:45 Hr. on 04/09/1997, in an area outside Insariye village (Insariye village is located at 20 kms away from the occupied Lebanese zone, between Tyre and Sidon qada's(Administrative districts). It is 100 meters above sea level and at 66kms to the south of Beirut (capital of Lebanon). The inhabitants of Insariye village are about 2500 population .

The Israeli commando brigade "SHAITET 13"

Referring to the Israeli marine commando unit known as"SHAITET 13" that is considered as the Jewel of the Israeli crown, not far from today, it was prohibited before to release any information about this brigade to the Israeli press. The unit came to existence after the year 1967, and it was famous for dismantling an Egyptian radar placed on the green island in the Red sea, in the Egyptian territories, in addition to that, this brigade shared in many special operations performed by the Israeli marine force, along the coast between Beirut and the Lebanese-Palestinian borders, inside Beirut or near Tripoli (north of Lebanon), moreover it is important to add that this commando unit committed the assassination of Abu Jihad (the known P.L.O leader) in Tunisia.

The Israeli army considers this unit as a part of his elite military forces that is supposed to perform special operations,especially if we know what the marine work requires interrelation to diving deep in some operations, joining this unit was a privilege that gives its members the right to move to any other special units without any problem, few members from this unit were the cornerstones for the command of "EGOZ brigade"that is specialized in fighting, the Islamic Resistance in occupied south Lebanon, moreover this unit failed many times in performing its missions, one of the known examples was few years ago at the Naameh hills,the other example was a marine landing near Tripoli (North of Lebanon). According to the description of the commander of this unit praising his soldiers, that every soldier fights as a group and a group is able to provide continuous support to the soldier.

Equipping this unit is considered the best compared to the military equipment of the other Israeli military units. It is important to add, that this unit represents "RAMBO" as a symbol to the other military units with its possible implications.

Preparatory phase of the operation

Security sources stated that the Israeli invading forces prepared for the operation on the 4th of September at about 23:00 Hours, this preparation was manifested in dense soaring of the Israeli war jets, and helicopters over south Lebanon and in specific over Zahrani region, in addition to this, light signals were sent by the battle-ships sailing opposite to the Lebanese coast in specific, opposite to the Zahrani region.

These sources confirmed that the Israeli Helicopters soared at low altitudes in Zahrani, the reason that created an atmosphere for emergency in the area, reflected in creating a case of alertness between the Islamic Resistance men, as well as, the Lebanese army in the area.

These sources added that in that past many landings took place in the area between Insariye , Loubieh and Al Saksakiye, the first landing was in the playground of Insariye, the second in the Marj area in Al Saksakiye and the third in a plain between Loubieh and Al Saksakiye village.

The security source added that the invading Israeli soldiers landed in the three areas(specified before), and they headed towards one target, crossed about one Kilometer on feet to the target, grouped near one of the orchards and ambushed next to the cypress and lemon trees, in addition, the target was not specified , if it is a well known, political, religious, security or military figure. What is known that this area has a dense presence for the Islamic Resistance and some Amal movement sites.

Battle details:

Around 00:45 A.M on the 5th of Sept, 1997, a civilian car, B.M.W model driven by the citizen Hussein Ali Younes from Sarafund , who was visiting one of his friends, next to him in the same car, a women called Samirah Al Asmar living in Insariye, the moment that the car arrived to a near distance from the Israeli ambush, the Israeli soldiers started shooting heavily at the car for few minutes which resulted in the death of Samira Al Asmar on spot, but Younis was injured and was able to hide away from the fire of the Israeli soldiers, at this time he was bleeding heavily.

Afterwards, the Islamic Resistance groups moved towards the source of shooting, and they took fighting positions around the Israeli ambush site, and the other Israeli landing sites which was clearly monitored. The invading Israeli soldiers were surrounded in the battle field in the same area where the fierce battle took place.  

The Israeli casualties:

The Israeli military command confirmed the news that twelve soldiers were killed, one missing, four wounded from the marine commando unit. The same source stated that after the heavy casualties that the Israeli commando unit suffered, a supporting military unit was called to rescue the first unit, the Israeli force arrived by war helicopters and landed in the battle land. This force was able to draw off most of the casualties, it continued to search for the missing soldier, the same source confirmed that this soldier was killed certainly, but they could not find him. The rescue operation was over after 4:15 A.M , more over, a military helicopter that was part of the rescue team was exposed to shooting of different kinds, machine guns and mortar shelling.

The helicopter was bit in many areas during the battle, in spite of that,it was able to take off and land as an emergency landing in north Palestine in Naharyah settlement.

Two military physicians were killed, one is the physician of the rescue unit known as Maher Dagach, the other was the physician of the marine commando unit, known as Tsami Bin Touf.

The Israeli media added that the commander of the marine commando unit was killed at the very start of the battle, he is known as Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Corati, other officers who were killed in the operation were four with different military ranks, ranked between captain and lieutenant colonel.

Press conference of Hizbullah Secretary General:

Following the failed attempt of a Zionist military marine commando unit to infiltrate deep inside the free zone of South lebanon on Sept 5,97, Hizbullah Secretary General, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah held a press conference in Beirut to explain what happened.

The Secretary General started his conference with a:

"Salutation to the five martyrs of Kfour, few weeks ago , to the brave and honest Mujahideen who were positioned at every suspected place of infiltration, and to the great martyrs of Occupied Jerusalem,who executed their operation a day before which made the enemy feel that he is on the path of defeats".

He also reiterated that:"... after the Kfour infiltation, the enemy leaders started talking about regaining the shots, which implies that they lost it in the past. We did not talk about threats, but left the act to the Mujahideen, who faced the enemy in Blat and Bassil(deep inside the Occupied Zone), until yesterday's confrontation, which is considered a big defeat and loss to the Zionist military establishment and security apparatus. It could be said that this is the first time in the history of the Zionist entity such a commando face such a defeat in confronting the Mujahideen".

Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah reconfirmed that Lebanon is not a place for gains to the Israelis, it is the place for defeats, and the enemy has no choice but to withdraw from our land humiliated without conditions or treaties.

Back to the facts of Insariye Battle, Sayyid Nassrallah said:

"... following Kfour Operation, there was higher alert and readiness in many places of front line towns and deep inside the liberated zones, taking into consideration that it is not enough to spread groups of Mujahideen, but more so to plant explosive devices around, to be able to trap the occupation soldiers in case they land similarly to what happened in Kfour... The night watchers are in most towns and villages, and are waiting for them using booby traps, rifles and mortar fire."

" so, around 1:00 A.M on Friday, an Israeli commando, coming from the sea, infiltrated two kilometers inside Insariye area, the Resistance fighters were able to hear their voice, although could not see them because of the night darkness. When they reached the orchards area, on the outskirts of Insariye, the Israelis fell the highly explosive traps of the Resistance."

"After hours of fighting, we realized that the enemy losses are not less than 15 killed and 10 to 20 wounded. More Israeli forces were put in the battle to provide heavy fire cover to withdraw their casualties, with some missing. Around dawn, the Israelis gave up and left, and in the morning the Mujahideen found pieces of soldiers hands, feet, head, and other flesh."

The message to the Israelis said the Secretary General is that " they will find open eyes, planted explosives in the ground, walls and trees, and a stiff will of the Resistance fighters".

Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah also corrected the media reports which mentioned that the commandos target was Resistance bases in the area:"any trip around can show you that there are no bases to Hizbullah or Amal Movement, but orchards, road and civilian targets", expressing his belief that the Israelis wanted to do something similar to Kfour , i.e: plant bombs on the roads traveled by leaders of the Resistance, which could be detonated from observing planes."

The lesson to draw from Insariye Battle, explained Sayyid Nassrallah, is that " when the enemy is directly present to plant a bomb, either he has no executive intelligent networks of his collaborators, or he cannot trust them. In either case, it is a very good indication that our society is well protected."

The secretary General press conference was followed by questions and answers from more than 50 local and foreign journalists, then a visit to the Central Information offices to look at the captured flesh, military clothes and weapons, and explosives disguised in medical kits.