WRAP IDF forces at Zarit, a'math of helicopters' crash, gov reax

(21 Jul 2006) Northern Israel (exact location unavailable) 1. Wide of Israeli armoured vehicles taking their positions 2. Various of armoured vehicles 3. Israeli soldier on armoured vehicle 4. Various of Israeli forces firing Zarit, northern Israel 5. Wide pan of Zarit area 6. Pull focus from plant to view across towards Lebanon 7. Various of Israeli soldiers walking 8. Sign: "border ahead" 9. Israeli soldiers walking 10. Various of horse abandoned by community of Zarit Northern Israel (exact location unavailable) 11. Israeli vehicle drives towards line of tanks, zoom in 12. Soldiers with equipment 13. Soldier on tank with water supplies 14. Wide pan of Israeli forces in position Near Ramot Naftali, northern Israel 15. Helicopter flying near site where helicopters collided 16. Wide of Israeli air force delegation at site for inspection 17. Various of helicopter leaving 18. Various of helicopter debris in trees 19. Various of man reading newspaper, showing pictures of crashed helicopters Jerusalem 20. SOUNDBITE: (English) Foreign Ministry, Daniel Taub: "At the moment what Israel is trying to do is to stop the very immediate threat. As you know we are facing hundreds of missiles being fired on a daily basis. Over two (m) million Israelis from Haifa to Matula find themselves within range of Hezbollah missiles. The threat is not just the missiles that have been fired, it is the 13-thousand missiles that Hezbollah has waiting to be fired. At the moment we are doing what any democratic country would do to try and protect the lives of its civilians. But, at the same time we know that the solution has to be a diplomatic solution. It has to be the implementation of UN resolution 1559, the disbanding and disarming of Hezbollah and the exercise by Lebanon of it's sovereignty over the whole of its territory." 21. End shot of Taub STORYLINE: Israeli forces resumed attacks on Lebanon at daybreak on Friday, warning people in the south to flee as it prepared for a likely ground invasion to set up a deep buffer zone. Israel's forces continued ground patrols along their northern border as warplanes continued to target sites from the air across the war-torn country. In Zarit, a town just inside Israel, a U.N.-run observation post was struck on Friday during fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants. The Israeli army said it was struck by Hezbollah rockets, but a U.N. officer said it was an artillery shell fired by the Israeli Defence Force. The military could be seen patrolling the otherwise deserted town, after residents left the area fearful of what was to come. A lone horse stood in a town paddock, also abandoned by it's owners. The Hezbollah militia has fired hundreds of rockets at northern Israeli towns from the Lebanese border since fighting began on July 12, forcing hundreds of thousands of Israelis to take cover in underground shelters. Also on Friday, two Apache attack helicopters from the Israeli air force collided, killing one officer and injuring three others, the Israeli military said. The helicopters collided near the village of Ramot Naftali, which is about four kilometres (2.5 miles) east of the Israel-Lebanon border in the Galilee panhandle. The mid-air crash sent the attack helicopters crashing to the ground, turning them into piles of twisted wreckage. The commander of Israel's air force appointed an inquiry team to determine the cause of the collision. Israel has been conducting a large-scale military operation in Lebanon, involving large numbers of aircraft, including attack helicopters. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...