By Amos Harel, Aluf Benn and Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service
The Israel Defense Forces has destroyed an estimated two-thirds of Hezbollah's long-range missile capabilities, a senior government official said Monday.
The Iranian-supplied Zelzal-2 missiles have a range of 200 km (125 miles) and are believed to be capable of carrying biological or chemical warheads.
"We know how many of them we destroyed and we know how many they shot," the official said.
"But one-third [left undestroyed] is a lot. That can cause a lot of damage if they are launched," the official added.
The official said that according to estimates, Hezbollah retains 9,000-10,000 122-mm diameter Katyusha rockets and hundreds of rocket launchers.
Most of the rockets launched at northern Israel in recent weeks were Katyushas.
Hezbollah still has the ability to launch 302-mm diameter rockets like those which landed in Afula, and which can reach even further into Israel.
Since Israel Air Force planes bombed the launch site used to fire rockets at Afula, no rockets of the larger type have been launched.
Still, Hezbollah retains rockets and launchers of a similar type, and the groups which fire them retains fighting capability. These rockets, which Hezbollah calls "Khaiber 1", have a range of 90-115 km.
Government sources say Hezbollah still has half of its original inventory of 220-km rockets. Still, they believe Syria to be actively supplying the group.
IAF drone strikes truck at Lebanon-Syria border An IAF drone plane fired a missile Monday at a truck at Masna'a crossing on the Lebanon-Syria border, Lebanese security officials said.
The truck was carrying equipment from Syria. The driver and four Lebanese customs officials were wounded in the strike.
Earlier, IAF planes struck Hezbollah targets in the southern Lebanese village of Bint Jbail.
Lebanese soldier killed in strike on Hezbollah leader Meanwhile, one Lebanese soldier was killed and three others were wounded when the Israel Air Force targeted a senior Hezbollah figure in south Lebanon early Monday afternoon.
The IDF spokesperson said the strike, in the Qasmiyeh village north of the port city of Tyre, targeted a vehicle in which the Hezbollah figure was thought to have been traveling. The IDF expressed regret a Lebanese soldier was inadvertently killed in the strike.
The IAF also carried out air strikes Monday in support of ground troops operating near the south Lebanese village of Taibeh despite an agreement to halt raids for 48 hours, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The strikes were meant to protect ground forces operating in the area, and were not targeting anyone or anything specific, the IDF said. Israel agreed to halt its air operations in Lebanon for two days after 56 Lebanese civilians were killed in a strike on Sunday in the village of Qana.
Three IDF soldiers were lightly wounded when Hezbollah gunmen fired anti-tank rockets at them during efforts to rescue a tank and a Puma vehicle that had been hit by Hezbollah fire during battles in Taibeh.
In a separate incident, an explosive device was set off along the Israeli-Syrian border in the Golan Heights, the IDF said Monday. There were no injuries.
An IDF patrol heard an explosion late Sunday. During investigations Monday the IDF found that an apparent Syrian mine had been placed into a tire and set on fire, causing the blast.
It was not clear who set off the device, which exploded on the Syrian side of the border, the army said, adding that its patrol was not close to the scene at the time of the explosion.
PM to debate military moves Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will convene the security cabinet at 9 P.M. Monday to approve the Israel Defense Forces' continued operations in Lebanon.
The IDF will present ministers with plans revised on the basis of a cease-fire that is expected to be announced this coming weekend.
The military on Sunday night implemented a 48-hour suspension of aerial activity, in the wake of a strike on a south Lebanon building, in which at least 56 people were killed, more than half of them children.
IDF ground operations will continue as before, however, and the army aims to complete the destruction of Hezbollah positions along the border by Thursday.
A government source in Jerusalem said the United Nations Security Council, set to discuss the war Wednesday, is likely to announce Friday a cease-fire that would go into effect Saturday.
Before the evening cabinet meeting, Olmert will hold a security consultation meeting with Defense Minister Amir Peretz and senior defense establishment figures. He will also meet separately with Peretz.
At 7:30 P.M., Olmert will give a speech to a conference of local municipalities in which he is expected to praise the fortitude of the home front and will discuss the strengthening of communities hit during the war.
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