Rodeo
07-12-2006, 06:02
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13823680/
MSNBC News Services
Updated: 6 minutes ago
MARJAYOUN, Lebanon - Hezbollah guerrillas said they had captured two Israeli soldiers in cross-border attacks from Lebanon on Wednesday in which six Israelis and two Lebanese were also killed, sharply raising Middle East tensions.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the guerrilla attack “an act of war” and warned Hezbollah would pay a “heavy price” for its actions.
Israeli ground forces crossed into Lebanon to search for the captured soldiers, Israeli Army Radio said. It said many troops and aircraft were taking part in searches across the border.
Israel has already launched a military offensive in the Gaza Strip after Palestinian militants captured a soldier on June 25 in a cross-border raid.
“Fulfilling its pledge to liberate the (Arab) prisoners and detainees, the Islamic Resistance ... captured two Israeli soldiers at the border with occupied Palestine,” the Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah said in a statement.
“The two captives were transferred to a safe place,” it said, without stating what condition the soldiers were in.
Israel's Defense Ministry confirmed Israeli soldiers were kidnapped, the Associated Press reported.
“The Lebanese government is responsible for the fate of the Israeli soldiers, and must take immediate action to locate them without harming them and return them to Israel,” the Israeli Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Israeli, Lebanese casualties
Lebanese security officials said that six Israeli soldiers and two Lebanese civilians were killed in fighting across the border.
Hezbollah earlier fired dozens of Katyusha rockets and mortar bombs at Israeli border posts and a town, Israeli and Lebanese security sources said.
Israel troops retaliated, shelling the outskirts of four Lebanese border villages and trading fire with guerrillas.
Israeli aircraft also bombed three bridges in southern Lebanon. Two Lebanese civilians were killed and a Lebanese soldier was wounded in the raid on the coastal Qasmiyeh bridge, Lebanese security sources said.
Olmert called a special cabinet session for 7 p.m. (12 p.m. ET). The announcement from his office did not mention the Hezbollah claim to have seized the soldiers.
“These are difficult days for Israel and its citizens,” Olmert told reporters after Hezbollah’s announcement.
“There are elements, to the north and the south, that are threatening our stability and trying to test our determination,” he said. “They will fail and pay a heavy price for their actions.”
'Celebration rallies' in Lebanon
Hezbollah called for major "celebration rallies" to be held in Lebanon on Thursday and had started to organize them, NBC News' Richard Engel reported. In the past, similar celebrations have attracted tens of thousands, or even several hundred thousand people.
Hezbollah sources also said the “Palestinians are very happy,” clearly showing Hezbollah’s solidarity with Hamas.
Hezbollah supporters were seen setting off fire crackers and distributing sweets in the streets of Beirut. Similar scenes were reported across Lebanon.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, Israel targeted Hamas guerrilla commanders in an air strike that killed six Palestinians and destroyed a building where the militants were believed to be meeting.
The Israeli military said the air raid wounded Mohammad Deif, leader of the governing Hamas’ armed wing.
It coincided with an armored sweep into the central Gaza Strip that broadened an offensive aimed at freeing the captured soldier in Gaza, Corporal Gilad Shalit, and halting cross-border rocket fire.
A spokesman for Hamas’ Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, one of three groups whose seizure of Shalit led Israel to launch its first ground operations in Gaza since quitting the territory last year, denied Deif was hurt.
Israel has vowed to continue its Gaza operation, which has already killed more than 65 Palestinians, until militants free Shalit and stop launching makeshift rockets over the border.
Israel has rejected calls from Hamas for a prisoner swap for the 19-year-old tank gunner, whose seizure has triggered the worst fighting between Israelis and Palestinians since 2004.
MSNBC News Services
Updated: 6 minutes ago
MARJAYOUN, Lebanon - Hezbollah guerrillas said they had captured two Israeli soldiers in cross-border attacks from Lebanon on Wednesday in which six Israelis and two Lebanese were also killed, sharply raising Middle East tensions.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the guerrilla attack “an act of war” and warned Hezbollah would pay a “heavy price” for its actions.
Israeli ground forces crossed into Lebanon to search for the captured soldiers, Israeli Army Radio said. It said many troops and aircraft were taking part in searches across the border.
Israel has already launched a military offensive in the Gaza Strip after Palestinian militants captured a soldier on June 25 in a cross-border raid.
“Fulfilling its pledge to liberate the (Arab) prisoners and detainees, the Islamic Resistance ... captured two Israeli soldiers at the border with occupied Palestine,” the Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah said in a statement.
“The two captives were transferred to a safe place,” it said, without stating what condition the soldiers were in.
Israel's Defense Ministry confirmed Israeli soldiers were kidnapped, the Associated Press reported.
“The Lebanese government is responsible for the fate of the Israeli soldiers, and must take immediate action to locate them without harming them and return them to Israel,” the Israeli Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Israeli, Lebanese casualties
Lebanese security officials said that six Israeli soldiers and two Lebanese civilians were killed in fighting across the border.
Hezbollah earlier fired dozens of Katyusha rockets and mortar bombs at Israeli border posts and a town, Israeli and Lebanese security sources said.
Israel troops retaliated, shelling the outskirts of four Lebanese border villages and trading fire with guerrillas.
Israeli aircraft also bombed three bridges in southern Lebanon. Two Lebanese civilians were killed and a Lebanese soldier was wounded in the raid on the coastal Qasmiyeh bridge, Lebanese security sources said.
Olmert called a special cabinet session for 7 p.m. (12 p.m. ET). The announcement from his office did not mention the Hezbollah claim to have seized the soldiers.
“These are difficult days for Israel and its citizens,” Olmert told reporters after Hezbollah’s announcement.
“There are elements, to the north and the south, that are threatening our stability and trying to test our determination,” he said. “They will fail and pay a heavy price for their actions.”
'Celebration rallies' in Lebanon
Hezbollah called for major "celebration rallies" to be held in Lebanon on Thursday and had started to organize them, NBC News' Richard Engel reported. In the past, similar celebrations have attracted tens of thousands, or even several hundred thousand people.
Hezbollah sources also said the “Palestinians are very happy,” clearly showing Hezbollah’s solidarity with Hamas.
Hezbollah supporters were seen setting off fire crackers and distributing sweets in the streets of Beirut. Similar scenes were reported across Lebanon.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, Israel targeted Hamas guerrilla commanders in an air strike that killed six Palestinians and destroyed a building where the militants were believed to be meeting.
The Israeli military said the air raid wounded Mohammad Deif, leader of the governing Hamas’ armed wing.
It coincided with an armored sweep into the central Gaza Strip that broadened an offensive aimed at freeing the captured soldier in Gaza, Corporal Gilad Shalit, and halting cross-border rocket fire.
A spokesman for Hamas’ Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, one of three groups whose seizure of Shalit led Israel to launch its first ground operations in Gaza since quitting the territory last year, denied Deif was hurt.
Israel has vowed to continue its Gaza operation, which has already killed more than 65 Palestinians, until militants free Shalit and stop launching makeshift rockets over the border.
Israel has rejected calls from Hamas for a prisoner swap for the 19-year-old tank gunner, whose seizure has triggered the worst fighting between Israelis and Palestinians since 2004.