CAIRO: An Egyptian civilian ship off the coast of Lebanon was hit during an exchange of fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli military, Egypt s foreign ministry confirmed on Saturday, but the crew of 12 survived. The 12 sailors have reached Syria safely, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alaa El-Hadidi said, adding there were no casualties among the crew of the Egyptian-owned ship. The Egyptian ship was hit early on Saturday after Hezbollah launched an attack against a fleet of military vessels Israel has deployed to impose a naval siege on Lebanon after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers on Wednesday. Israel said that a missile fired at an Israeli naval vessel off Lebanon missed its target and hit the Egyptian civilian boat instead. Egypt s state news agency MENA reported the ship was hit by mistake by Israeli fire. It (the ship) was hit and it was damaged, Hadidi added, saying it appeared the vessel was caught in crossfire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah. But he said it was too early to say which side had fired the shot that hit the ship. It s a war zone, he said. The official Syrian news agency SANA said the sailors were receiving treatment in a Syrian hospital. A fire was declared [on Friday evening] after the boat was exposed to fire from an Israeli ship off Beirut, which was firing in all directions, it added. The sailors were transported to the port of Tartous, where a health official said most of them were in a stable condition, except for one sailor who had serious wounds, SANA said. Israel has vowed to recover the captured soldiers and smash Hezbollah. Israeli warplanes have struck targets across Beirut and southern Lebanon, killing at least 103 people. The violence is the fiercest since 1996 when Israel launched a 17-day blitz on Hezbollah strongholds in south Lebanon, four years before ended a 22-year Israeli occupation there. Agencies
