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1 killed, 3 missing after Hezbollah hits Israeli warship

At least one Israeli sailor was killed and three were missing Saturday after Hezbollah struck a warship off Lebanon's coast in a dramatic show of the Shiite guerrilla group's military capabilities.

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JERUSALEM: At least one Israeli sailor was killed and three were missing Saturday after Hezbollah struck a warship off Lebanon's coast in a dramatic show of the Shiite guerrilla group's military capabilities.

 

Rescuers recovered one body off the coast of Beirut and the search was continuing for the three others, an army spokeswoman said.

 

The sailor was the ninth Israeli serviceman confirmed to have been killed since the flare-up of Israeli-Lebanese violence sparked by the abduction of two Israeli soldiers in a deadly Hezbollah raid on the border on Wednesday.

 

Friday's attack marked Hezbollah's first successful strike on an Israeli warship, dealing an unprecedented blow to the Israeli Army, by far the most powerful in the Middle East.

 

The Israeli Army said Hezbollah militants had used an Iranian-built anti-ship missile in the attack. The radar-guided C-802 missile, developed by Iran using Chinese technology, has a range of around 100 kms.

 

The attack came shortly after Israel launched air strikes on the Beirut home and offices of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who emerged unscathed to declare open war on the Jewish state.

 

The targeted ship, which the Israeli army said was a SAAR 5 missile corvette, one of the most modern of its fleet, was enforcing a blockade off the coast of Beirut when it was hit.

 

According to Israeli media, the warship was 16 km from the Beirut coast at the time of the attack and was hit in the stern. The army refused to confirm either detail.

 

Early Saturday the Israeli corvette remained at sea off the coast of Beirut in a "semi-operational" state, the military said.

 

A foreign civilian vessel, believed to be Egyptian, was also hit and set on fire, its passengers and crew rescued by a third boat, according to an army spokeswoman, who gave no details of casualties on the ship.

 

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