KEREM SHALOM, Israel -- The Israeli government threatened drastic consequences yesterday after a rare cross-border raid by Palestinian militants that left two Israeli soldiers dead and another missing, apparently seized by the attackers.
The capture of an Israeli soldier, the first such abduction by Palestinian militants in a dozen years, sent shock waves through Israel, where most citizens feel a strong familial connection to the army.
The incident heightened Israeli-Palestinian tensions over a series of violent incidents in the Gaza Strip, including a campaign of Israeli airstrikes aimed at Palestinian militants that has resulted in civilian casualties.
The attack was the first ground assault by Palestinians on a military target in Israel since its withdrawal last summer from Gaza, and followed by a day Israel's first raid into the seaside strip since the pullout.
Israel said the attack was carried out by members of Hamas' military wing, but Palestinian officials described the militants as primarily members of two splinter groups.
The attackers, carrying automatic rifles, anti-tank missiles and grenades, tunneled under the fence that separates Israel and the Gaza Strip and killed two Israeli soldiers and seriously wounded a third. Two of the attackers were killed.
Israeli military officials described a daring operation. The pre-dawn assault occurred just north of Kerem Shalom, an agricultural kibbutz near the Gaza border fence.
Brig. Gen Aviv Kochavi, who commands the Israeli army division surrounding Gaza, said eight attackers apparently crawled through a tunnel that extended nearly 900 feet into Israel, far enough to enable them to sneak up on Israeli troops from behind. Kochavi, speaking at a briefing near the scene, said construction of the tunnel could have taken months.
After emerging from the tunnel, the militants broke into three groups, the army said. One group attacked an armored personnel carrier that was parked near the border as a decoy. There were no injuries. A second group stormed a watchtower but were spotted by Israeli troops, who opened fire and killed two militants.
The rest attacked an Israeli tank, firing an anti-tank missile and lobbing explosives. Two members of the tank crew died, the army said, and another was gravely wounded. The fourth, later identified by Israeli news media as Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, was believed to have been seized by the attackers and taken into the Gaza Strip. The militants cut through the fence to return to the Palestinian side.
