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Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared a Lebanese guerrilla attack on Israel's northern border to be "an act of war." (AP file)
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| By Associated Press July 12, 2006 |
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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday declared a Lebanese guerrilla attack on Israel's northern border to be "an act of war," and vowed that the Israeli response would be "very, very, very painful."
Hezbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers in the attack.
Israel's Cabinet plans to convene Wednesday evening to approve additional military activity in Lebanon, Olmert said at a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
"Israel's response will be restrained but very, very, very painful," Olmert said.
The military, which sent airplanes and gunboats to strike southern Lebanon, plans to call up a reserves division of several thousand soldiers, security officials said. Ground troops also entered to look for the soldiers and to keep them from being taken deeper into Lebanon, government officials said.
Olmert said the attack was not an act of terror but an attack by a sovereign state on Israel. The Lebanese government, of which Hezbollah is a part, "must bear full responsibility," he said.
A leading member of the Palestinian Hamas militant group allied with Hezbollah said the guerrillas demanded the release of Palestinian, Lebanese and other Arab prisoners held by Israel.
"We shall not surrender to arrogance and we will not negotiate with terrorists," Olmert said.
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