Israel has launched a series of air raids deep into Lebanon after fighters from Hezbollah, the Lebanese resistance group, killed eight Israeli soldiers and captured two in a cross-border attack.
Israel described Wednesday's attack as an act of war by Lebanon and promised a "severe response", with the government giving the green light to military action against Hezbollah following an emergency cabinet meeting.
At least two Lebanese civilians were killed in an Israeli air raid on a coastal bridge at Qasmiyeh, while bombs hit nine other bridges - including one only 16km south of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
Several suspected Hezbollah posts in south Lebanon also came under Israeli air and land bombardment.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, said the soldiers had been seized to force Israel to release prisoners.
"What we did ... is the only feasible path to free detainees from Israeli jails," he told a news conference in Beirut.
The captured Israeli soldiers were seized at around 9am (0600 GMT) local time, across the border from Aita al-Shaab, 15km from the Mediterranean coast.
Three Israeli soldiers died in the raid, while four more were killed when their tank ran over a landmine. The eighth soldier died while assisting in recovering the tank, the Israeli army said.
Footage on Hezbollah's Al-Manar television showed a smouldering Israeli jeep. It also showed smoke rising from an Israeli border post.
Hezbollah supporters set off fire crackers and distributed sweets in the streets of Beirut in celebration of the attack.
Mothers of Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails expressed hope to Aljazeera that the Hezbollah attack could increase the possibility of their relatives being freed, while in Gaza the families of some Palestinian prisoners also welcomed the attack.
Following the incident, Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz, the Israeli army chief of staff, warned the Lebanese government that Israel would attack its infrastructure and "turn back the clock in Lebanon by 20 years" if the soldiers were not returned, Israeli TV reported.
Israeli troops have not struck so far into Lebanon since they withdrew from the southern border area in 2000. Hezbollah's Shia fighters had waged an 18-year campaign against them.
Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary-general, called on Wednesday for an end to the violence and demanded that Hezbollah release the two soldiers.
"We would not want to see an expansion, an escalation of conflict in the region," Annan said.
Also on Wednesday, Yemen called for an emergency Arab summit to discuss Israel's "aggression" in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon.
The attack and ensuing air raids come while Israel is already embroiled in a major offensive in the Gaza Strip, following the capture of Corporal Gilad Shalit by Palestinian fighters late last month.
The three Palestinian resistance groups holding Shalit, 19, have also demanded that Israel release Palestinian prisoners.
Agencies
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