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In a meticulously-planned attack by the Hizbullah, terrorists infiltrated into Israel early Wednesday morning and fired anti-tank rockets at an IDF patrol along the western border near Zarit, killing three soldiers and abducting another two. Later a tank, sent in to search for the abducted troops, drove over a large explosive device.
Four soldiers were killed. Under heavy fire, IDF troops entered Lebanon to retrieve the bodies of the four soldiers who died in the tank attack. An eighth soldier, part of the search-and-rescue team, was killed in ensuing clashes with the Hizbullah.
The names of two of the eight soldiers killed were released for publication Wednesday evening: Sgt.-Major Eyal Benin, 22, of Beersheba and Sgt.-Major Shani Turgeman, 24, of Beit Shean. One of the kidnapped soldiers was a reservist from the Druze village of Kfar Yanuh. The other kidnapped soldier was from Kiryat Motzkin, near Haifa. The three soldiers killed in the attack on the patrol were also reservists.
Wednesday morning's attacks, which occurred 17 days after Cpl. Gilad Shalit was abducted in Gaza, opened a second front on Israel's northern border, including barrages of Katyusha rockets and mortar shells.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared the attack as an "act of war." During a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi Wednesday afternoon, he called the Hizbullah attack an unprovoked assault by a sovereign nation and held Lebanon, where Hizbullah has a minister in the government, fully responsible.
"Israel's response will be restrained but very, very, very painful," Olmert added.
The ground troops that were sent into Lebanon to search for the two were aided by IAF jets, helicopters and UAVs, which were also flying above Lebanon searching for the soldiers. Several jets were flying patterns above Beirut.
Simultaneously, Navy missile ships and artillery cannons along the border were pounded Hizbullah targets in Lebanon The IDF said it destroyed 30 Hizbullah targets in Lebanon, as well as three bridges, since the beginning of the operation.
The morning attack began at 8 AM, when Hizbullah launched a heavy barrage of Katyusha rockets and mortar shells at IDF positions and communities along the northern frontier. One rocket scored a direct hit on a house in Shtula. Magen David Adom said they had treated six people. Both soldiers and civilians were wounded; they were evacuated to Nahariya hospital.
The ground troops that were sent into Lebanon to search for the two were aided by IAF jets, helicopters and UAVs, which were also flying above Lebanon searching for the soldiers. Several jets were flying patterns above Beirut, Channel 10 reported. Simultaneously, Navy gunboats and artillery along the border were shelling Hizbullah targets in Lebanon.
The army has destroyed 30 targets and Hizbullah outposts in Lebanon, as well as three bridges, since the beginning of the operation.
While Hizbullah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah announced at Wednesday afternoon press conference that the two kidnapped soldiers were "in a safe and very distant place," a senior Hizbullah official claimed that at least one of the two was still alive.
Israel has launched an incursion into southern Lebanon in what they claim is a search for two Israeli soldiers. The soldiers were taken Wednesday following an attack by Hezbollah, a Lebanese militia, that had made an incursion into Israel. 

Three Israeli soldiers died and eleven were wounded when army transports patrolling at the Israeli-Lebanese border were attacked on Wednesday morning, near the Israeli village of Zar'it. Hezbollah also fired mortars and long-range rockets at the Israeli town of Shlomi and nearby communities. Six Israeli civilians were injured by the artillery fire.

After the attack two soldiers were found to be missing. Israeli troops and tanks then entered southern Lebanon, having claimed the soldiers were kidnapped. Following the incursion, five more soldiers were killed, four of them when an Israeli tank hit a mine. Hezbollah said one of its members died.

The Israeli air-force targeted several roads, bridges and Hezbollah outposts in an attempt to stop militants from moving the soldiers, Israel said. Two civilians were killed in an air raid on one of the bridges, while 23 others have been injured. Israeli artillery and gunboats also attacked other targets on Lebanese soil.

Later, Hezbollah said they had destroyed an Israeli tank which had crossed the border into Lebanon.

Ehud Olmert, Israel's Prime Minister, blamed the attack on the Lebanese government calling it "an act of war" and vowed to deliver a "very painful and far-reaching" response. Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz told Israel's Channel 10 that if the soldiers are not returned "we will turn Lebanon's clock back 20 years".

Hezbollah Secretary-General, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, hailed what he called the capture of the two soldiers calling them "our natural, only and logical right". He also said that the soldiers were taken to "a far away place" and that the only way to get them back was through an exchange with Lebanese and other Arab prisoners in Israeli jails.

The Israeli cabinet is in an emergency meeting and has yet to make an official statement about the situation. PM Ehud Olmert said previously that swapping of prisoners is not an option.

Hezbollah's announcement of their captures led to celebration scenes in a Hezbollah-strong suburb in Beirut with firing of guns in the air and handing out candy to children.

The Lebanese government issued a statement after an emergency meeting of the cabinet saying that it was not informed of the intentions of Hezbollah and that it does not endorse the group's actions. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora was quoted as saying that "the government was not aware of and does not take responsibility for, nor endorses what happened on the international border". 

Hezbollah currently has two sitting members on the Lebanese government's ruling coalition.

The view recognized by the United States is one that condemned the attacks, but acknowledged that Lebanon had little say over Hezbollah in the south. The White House  said the militant group's violent actions were supported by Iran and Syria.

Israel has filed a complaint with the United Nations which called for the Security Council to enforce resolutions urging Lebanon to extend its authority throughout its territory and to disarm its militias.