Hezbollah Commits Act of War on Israel

Hezbollah has actually added fuel to the flames of fire joining Hamas in acts of terrorism against Israel. In Hezbollah's case it is an escalation to an act of war. The political and purse strings to Hezbollah are pulled by Iran and Syria. This act of entering Israel and kidnapping two Israeli Defense Force soldiers has to be viewed as a policy validated by Iran and Syria. Below is the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem e-newsletter report I received:
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Hizb'Allah attacks Israel, seizes two
Heavy shelling kicks off IDF manhunt

Backed by heavy artillery and air shelling, Israeli ground forces entered southern Lebanon on Wednesday in search of two soldiers abducted during a carefully planned Hizb'Allah offensive on Israel's northern border this morning. Around 9am, Syrian-backed Hizb'Allah gunmen ambushed two IDF vehicles patrolling the Lebanese border, seizing two soldiers and injuring several others.

Synchronized with the border kidnapping, Hizb'Allah rocket crews launched a salvo of heavy Katyusha rockets and mortar shells at northern communities and IDF positions, scoring a direct hit on an Israeli home, injuring five civilians and critically wounding another. Palestinians claimed that the attacks were in response to the failed Israeli strike on Hamas terror mastermind Mohammed Deif in Gaza earlier on Wednesday that left 9 Palestinians dead and from which Deif managed to escape.

Immediately after the cross- border Hizb'Allah attack, the Shi'ite militia's Al-Manar television station began broadcasting clips calling for the release of Lebanese security prisoners held in Israel paired with footage of previous Palestinian and Lebanese attacks on IDF troops.

Currently, backed by heavy naval artillery and air shelling of Hizb'Allah positions inside Lebanon, IDF ground forces have crossed the border in search of the two kidnapped soldiers. The Israeli Air Force has destroyed roads, bridges, and Hizb'Allah bases in southern Lebanon in an attempt to block any escape routes for the operatives who will try to move the soldiers as far from the Israel-Lebanon border as possible.

In response to Wednesday's events, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared during a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi Wednesday afternoon that the Hizb'Allah attack was an "act of war". Emphatically denouncing the unprovoked assault by a sovereign nation and holding the Lebanese government entirely responsible, Olmert told the press "Israel's response will be restrained but very, very, very painful."