The Consequences of Showing Weakness, Empty Threats, Appeasement and Walking Away from Parts of Eretz Yisrael — Ehud Just Doesn’t Get It!

Update: 8 Soldiers Killed in North

Hizballah Kills Seven Israeli Soldiers, Captures Two in Northern Border Attack

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The militant Shiite Muslim group Hizballah said Wednesday that it had captured two Israeli soldiers along the Israel-Lebanon border, and Israeli officials said seven more soldiers were killed during military operations in response to the attack. Israeli tanks and troops entered Lebanon soon after the abduction to search for the missing soldiers. At least three soldiers were killed in a blast involving one of the tanks, Israeli officials said. Katyusha rockets were being fired from Lebanon into Israel and residents of northern border towns were urged to seek cover in underground bomb shelters.

Hezbollah Kidnaps 2 IDF Soldiers During Clashes on Israel-Lebanon Border

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Hezbollah kidnapped two Israel Defense Forces soldiers on the northern border in the midst of massive shelling attacks on Israel’s north Wednesday morning. The IDF confirmed two of its soldiers were missing on the Lebanese border, Channel 10 TV reported.

Hezbollah fighters attacked two IDF armored Hummer jeeps patrolling along the border with gunfire and explosives. The Hezbollah fighters nabbed two of the soldiers and wounded others in the Hummers.

Two other Israelis were wounded when gunmen in Lebanon began pounding the IDF’s Zarit position and other posts along the border before 9 A.M. According to Al-Manar, Hezbollah kidnapped the two IDF soldiers at 9:05 A.M. and transferred them to a safe location.

The two Israelis were wounded either by mortar shells or rockets that slammed into Moshav Zarit. One was lightly to moderately wounded and the second was lightly wounded. Two other people suffered from shock. The wounded were evacuated to a hospital in Nahariya.

IDF responded to the attacks from Lebanon with heavy artillery and tank fire. Al-Manar television reported that IDF artillery was pounding the fringes of the villages of Aita el-Shaab, Ramieh and Yaroun in the hills east of the coastal border port of Naqoura. Israel Air Force struck roads, bridges and Hezbollah guerrilla positions in southern Lebanon, Lebanese security officials said. The air raids were apparently intended to block any escape route for the guerrillas who may be taking the captured IDF soldiers to areas further removed from the border in order to prevent an Israeli rescue mission.

For more background, click
IDF Confirms Two Soldiers Missing After Attack, Four Wounded in Hizbullah Attack and Northern Commander: No Advance Warning of Attack.

For details on the attempted strike on Hamas terrorist Mohammad Deif, click here.

PM Olmert Declares Hizbullah Attack ‘Act of War’ By Lebanon

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Three IDF soldiers were killed in the Hizbullah attack on IDF forces on the Lebanese border Wednesday morning, it was released for publication Wednesday afternoon.

The three were riding in the same Hummer jeep as the two soldiers kidnapped in the same attack. Their families have been notified.

The Defense Ministry confirmed early Wednesday afternoon that two IDF soldiers had been kidnapped by Hizbullah. IDF ground troops had been sent into Lebanon to search for the two. IAF jets, helicopters and UAVs 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 17 targets as well as Hizbullah outposts and three bridges since the beginning of the operation.

IDF Issuing Callup Orders for Reservists

Likud MK: Hamas, Hizbullah Sense Israel’s Weakness, By Ilan Marciano

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Most members of the opposition preferred to wait until the picture clears up, but some were quick to make statements and blame the government for the apparent recent security failures.

Knesset Member Arieh Eldad (National Union) said that “the abduction of soldiers in the north, juts like the kidnapping in the south, prove again that we can’t run from terror. In order to put a stop to the threat to Israel, we must launch a war in the north and in Gaza and destroy the terror organizations.”

‘We must go to war’

MK Effie Eitam (National Union) called on Defense Minister Amir Peretz to resign his post, claiming that “everything we have warned against is materializing – from the escape from Lebanon to fleeing from Gush Katif. The entire State is being blackmailed by abductions and rockets from the north and south.”

“There’s no choice. The war has been forced upon us – we must go to war and break the terror siege. We need a response that will rattle the Lebanon government and the Hamas-led government,” he stated.

In the Likud, MKs were careful not to lash out at the government in the first hours after the abduction. However, MK Reuven Rivlin said in response to the strike in the north: “We are in a state of war and must not remain silent. Our deterrence capabilities have been seriously undermined. We need to pull ourselves together and realize that this is war, and act accordingly.”

“We must make clear to all the elements that encourage terror against Israel that this will not go unanswered,” he added.