Israeli forces and Lebanon's Hizbollah militia clashed along the border
area on Wednesday and Hizbollah claimed kidnapping two Israeli soldiers.
The fierce border confrontation came after at least two rockets hit northern
Israel from southern Lebanon, wounding four Israeli civilians in the Shlomi
community.
Magen David Adom, Israel's medical service, said that the four wounded were
evacuated to hospital for medical treatment and that three of them sustained
light injuries while a fourth was in moderate condition.
Shortly after the rocket firing, the Israeli army pounded the Lebanese
villages of Aita el-Shaab, Ramieh and Yaroun in southern Lebanon, stronghold of
Hizbollah, and exchanged fire with Hizbollah militants over the Israel-Lebanon
border.
Residents in northern Israel were reportedly hearing massive sounds of
gunfire and explosions and were ordered to enter bomb shelters.
In addition, Israeli warplanes struck bridges and a power plant in southern
Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Hizbollah claimed via its television channel al-Manar that its
militants had captured two Israeli soldiers in the border area during the
clashes.
The captured soldiers had been sent to a safe place, the report added,
without revealing further details.
The Israeli army said that two Israeli soldiers were missing in the border
area and might have been kidnapped, but could not confirm the abduction yet.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed that those involved in the attack on
Israel's northern border would pay a "heavy price."
Wednesday's violence came as Israeli troops pressed ahead a massive offensive
in the Gaza Strip in a bid to free an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian
militants and prevent Palestinian rocket attacks.