http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060805/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_israel_798BEIRUT, Lebanon - Israel and Hezbollah sharply intensified fighting with a blitz of airstrikes, dozens of rocket attacks and brutal ground combat on Saturday, each apparently trying to inflict as much damage as possible to strengthen their bargaining positions.
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Israeli commandos battled Hezbollah guerrillas in a raid on an apartment building in the southern port city of Tyre, while warplanes blasted south Beirut. The fighting across Lebanon killed at least eight Lebanese and an Israeli soldier, while a Hezbollah rocket volley killed three women in northern Israel.
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The raid in Tyre was the latest Israeli commando operation deep inside Lebanese territory aimed at taking out Hezbollah strongpoints even as heavy fighting raged closer to the border, where Israel is trying to push back guerrillas.
Both Israel and Hezbollah claimed victory, with Israel saying it took out a key guerrilla unit involved in firing long-range rockets into its territory — including one Friday that hit the town of Hadera some 50 miles south of the border in the deepest Hezbollah strike yet.
The commandos landed from the sea and progressed through an orchard before dawn, cutting through a barbed wire fence to advance on the apartment building where a fierce gunbattle broke out with those inside.