More decisive action from Israel. From AP:
JERUSALEM, July 12 “” The Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah seized two Israeli soldiers this morning in a brazen raid along Israel’s border with Lebanon. Israel immediately responded by sending an armored force into southern Lebanon for the first time in six years.
The clashes dramatically escalated tensions at a time when Israel already is waging a military offensive in the Gaza Strip to seek the return of another soldier held by Palestinian militants for more than two weeks.
Israel’s defense minister, Amir Peretz, said in a statement that the Lebanese government “is directly responsible for the fate of the soldiers and must act immediately to locate them, prevent any harm to them and return them to Israel.”
Also, Israel’s prime minister, Ehud Olmert, scheduled an emergency Cabinet meeting in the evening to assess the developments.
The fighting erupted when Hezbollah attacked northern Israel with rocket fire this morning, injuring several Israeli civilians in the northwestern town of Shlomi, the Israeli military said. Israel responded with artillery fire and air strikes that targeted Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon. Later, Israeli troops moved into southern Lebanon in the first such incursion since Israel pulled its troops out of the region in 2000.