MIDDLE EAST: Palestinian militants tunnelled 300m from Gaza into Israel and launched a pre-dawn attack yesterday on an Israeli military post, killing two soldiers and kidnapping a third, who was still being held last night in the Gaza Strip.
The first cross-border attack by militants from Gaza since Israel pulled out of the Strip last year could have far-reaching implications, possibly triggering a harsh Israeli military response, hurting efforts by the new Hamas-led government to convince the international community of its legitimacy and raising questions about Israeli plans for further unilateral withdrawals in the West Bank.
Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and leading ministers decided last night on what officials said would be a harsh military response that would take more than one or two days. The ministers also decided however that more time would be given to diplomatic efforts and international pressure on the Palestinian Authority, before a broad offensive was launched.
Israeli security forces were also engaged in an intensive intelligence-gathering operation in an effort to win the release of the soldier, who was named as Cpl Gilead Shalit (19). Special army units were on alert last night, awaiting orders for a possible rescue operation.
At about 5am yesterday, eight gunmen belonging to Hamas and several other smaller armed groups crawled along a tunnel they had dug under the Gaza-Israel border, opening fire as they emerged. Two of the militants hived off and attacked a nearby watchpost, injuring two soldiers.
Troops there returned fire, killing the two gunmen.
Four of the militants fired rockets and lobbed grenades at a tank, killing two soldiers inside. Military officials said the assailants then seized Cpl Shalit, who was apparently injured in the attack, and blew a hole in the perimeter fence as they headed back into Gaza.
Hamas militants said the raid, which took place at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel, Gaza and Egypt, was to avenge the killing of Palestinian civilians and militant leaders in the Strip in recent weeks.
"This operation is a natural response to the Israeli crimes of killing women and children and the assassination of two [ militant] leaders," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. Leading Hamas figures were said to have gone underground for fear of being targeted by Israel.
Israeli leaders blamed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority for the raid. "We in Israel hold the Palestinian Authority, headed by chairman Abu Mazen [ Mahmoud Abbas], and the Palestinian government responsible for this event, with all that implies," said Mr Olmert.
Defence minister Amir Peretz warned: "Anyone who causes the soldier to be harmed should know that the soldier's blood is on his head." He added that Israel would respond to the attack "in a way in which all involved . . . understand that the price will be painful."
Mr Abbas, under intense international pressure to ensure the release of the abducted soldier, condemned the attack and blamed Hamas. He told Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh that the Islamic movement bore sole responsibility for the soldier's fate and for any Israeli military response. The attack, he said, could spark a "widespread [ Israeli] military operation" in Gaza.
The attack will undermine talks between Mr Abbas and Hamas aimed at forging agreement on a plan that calls for the creation of a Palestinian state along 1967 borders - an implicit recognition of Israel.