JERUSALEM, July 25, 2006 (AFP) - The Israeli army said Tuesday it had taken over a key border town in Lebanon after deadly fighting in the area with Hezbollah guerrillas as its forces pushed deeper into its northern neighbour.

"Beit Jbeil is in our hands," General Alon Friedman, one of Israel's top commanders in the northern region, told army radio.

Beit Jbeil lies less than 10 kilometers (six miles) north of the strategic village of Marun Al-Ras, which the Israeli army captured at the weekend.

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