Two Israeli military helicopters have collided near the Lebanese border, causing casualties, the army says.

Army Radio said five people were injured in last night's collision near Ramat Naftali, some 10km from the frontier, where Israeli forces and Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas have been fighting for nine days.

It described the aircraft as Apache combat helicopters.

In 1997, two Israeli transport helicopters crashed en route to Lebanon, killing more than 70 Israeli servicemen.

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An Israel Air Force fighter jet crashed late Wednesday while taking off from an Israel Defense Forces base in the Negev for an operation in Lebanon.

The pilot and navigator escaped from the aircraft without injury.

Initial IAF investigations indicated that at one of the aircraft's tires burst during take-off.

The jet was laden with weapons, and the additional weight made landing more difficult than usual.

The crew followed procedures by ejecting themselves from the aircraft. The jet crashed without causing injury or substantial damage.

The F-16I (also known as the "Sufa") is the IAF's newest fighter jet. Israel purchased 102 of the aircrafts from U.S. manufacturer Lockheed Martin in a deal still in progress. The average cost of one jet is nearly $70 million.Full Story