LEBAON/ISRAEL: Hizbollah capture two Israeli soldiers and kill at least seven, drawing Israeli air strikes on Lebanon hitting 10 bridges and killing two civilians

Record ID: 398134

  • Title: LEBAON/ISRAEL: Hizbollah capture two Israeli soldiers and kill at least seven, drawing Israeli air strikes on Lebanon hitting 10 bridges and killing two civilians
  • Date: 13th July 2006
  • Summary: (BN12) NEAR AFULA, ISRAEL (JULY 12, 2006) (REUTERS) ISRAELI AIRFORCE PREPARING WARPLANE AHEAD OF PLANNED STRIKES IN LEBANON; WARPLANE ON RUNWAY (5 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 28th July 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVABB2XT10LVNPMZOM6ZJ7XHM9CX
  • Story Text: Israel shelled targets in southern Lebanon on Wednesday (July 12, 2006) after Hizbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers and killed seven others in what Israel described as an act of war by Lebanon that would draw a "very painful" response.
    The sources said the Israeli soldiers had been seized at around 9 a.m. (0600 GMT) across the border from Aita al-Shaab, some 15 km (nine miles) from the Mediterranean coast.
    The Israeli army confirmed that two Israeli soldiers had been captured and at least seven killed on the Lebanese frontier. A military source said the number of dead could rise.
    Residents of southern Lebanon celebrated the capture of two Israeli soldiers on Wednesday, handing out sweets to passing motorists, throwing rice and waving Hizbollah flags.
    Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the two soldiers had been seized to force Israel to release prisoners.
    "There is only one way for these prisoners that we have to go home: indirect negotiations and (prisoner) exchange, and peace. Nobody in this entire world can take them back home, except through indirect negotiations and exchange. If Israelis think of taking any military action with the purpose of taking back the two prisoners, they are labouring under a great illusion," he told a news conference in Beirut, proposing "indirect" negotiations, not confrontation.
    Hizbollah's bold cross-border attack returned it to the frontline of the Middle East conflict. It inflicted the heaviest losses Israel has suffered on its northern border since it withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000.
    Hizbollah guerrillas fired dozens of Katyusha rockets and mortar bombs at Israeli border posts and a town on Wednesday, killing seven Israeli soldiers, wounding 21 Israeli civilians, media reports said.
    Israel is already engaged in an expanding military offensive in the Gaza Strip launched after Palestinian militants captured a soldier in a cross border raid on June 25.
    Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert convened a special cabinet session on Wednesday (July 12) in Tel Aviv after the Lebanese action.
    Olmert described deadly raids by Hizbollah guerrillas into Israel as an "act of war" by Lebanon and said its government would bear the consequences.
    Israeli media reports said that before the cabinet meeting, Olmert would consult with army and security commanders on a military response to the events on the border with Lebanon.
    Israeli senior Foreign Ministry official, Gideon Meir, said Lebanon, Syria, and Iran all held responsibility for Hizbollah's actions.
    When asked if Israeli forces might strike at targets in the three countries, Meir would not go into detail.
    "I will not go, on the air, with Israel's modus operandi. The government decided that it would be a severe response, as needed, for the provocation this morning, and, as needed, in order that the Israeli government will protect its people from this kind of unprovoked aggression," Ambassador Meir said.
    Gideon Meir also said Israel would not swap prisoners held in its jails for the two soldiers who were captured by the Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah in the cross-border raid.
    Israel's airforce lined-up warplanes at an airforce base in northern Israel in preparation for strikes on Hizbollah targets in Lebanon.
    Israeli ground forces had crossed into Lebanon, Olmert said, apparently referring to initial searches for the soldiers.
    In addition, Israel had already began calling up reserve troops, signalling a large-scale campaign, Israel's Channel 10 television said.
    The Israeli bombardments targeted mainly Lebanese southern villages neighbouring the border area (known as the Blue Line) such as Arabsalim village in the west south of Lebanon.
    The raids destroyed a bridge linking the area in addition to four more bridges in south Lebanon pounded during the Israeli shelling, Lebanese security sources said.
    Residents of the town of one of the soldiers seized by Hizbollah guerrillas during a cross-border raid were visibly shaken by Wednesday's (July 12) violence.
    Neighbours and media gathered outside the home of one of the abducted soldiers in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Motzkin awaiting any information on the soldier's fate.
    A group of residents gathered outside the home of the soldier on Wednesday evening to pray for is release and for peace amidst the growing violence.
    The violence has knocked the hopes of many Israelis that it might one day be possible to break from conflict with various foes through a mixture of withdrawing from some occupied land and protecting boundaries with overwhelming force.
    Israel quit Gaza last year after 38 years of occupation and southern Lebanon in 2000 after a 22-year stay. Forces returned to Gaza after the capture of Corporal Gilad Shalit by Palestinian militants on June 25.
    And hundreds of Jews gathered at the Western Wall on Wednesday (July 12) to pray for the well-being of two Israeli soldiers who were captured on the Lebanese border by Hizbollah in a cross-border raid.
    Seven more Israeli soldiers were killed during the battles that erupted along Israel's northern border.
    The border tension raised fears that Israel would widen its offensive into Lebanon, and perhaps Syria, which backs the Islamic militant group Hizbollah.
    Some Israeli ground forces had already crossed into Lebanon, Olmert said, apparently referring to initial searches for the soldiers.
    In addition, Israel had began calling up reserve troops, signalling a large-scale campaign, Israel's Channel 10 television said.
    It said a reserve infantry division had been mobilised and was expected to be sent to the northern border with Lebanon. Israeli forces, which came under frequent attack by Hizbollah, quit southern Lebanon in 2000 after 22 years of occupation.
    Israeli troops have not struck deep into Lebanon since they withdrew six years ago after an 18-year war of attrition by Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hizbollah fighters.
    Hizbollah, the only Lebanese faction to retain its weapons after the 1975-90 civil war, is also a political party with 14 members in the Beirut parliament and two cabinet ministers.
    In 2004, Hizbollah exchanged a kidnapped Israeli businessman and the bodies of three Israeli troops for more than 420 Arab prisoners. Israel now holds at least three Lebanese prisoners.
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