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Hamas men tunnel into Israel, attack army post

Two soldiers killed; Olmert vows response

KIBBUTZ KEREM SHALOM (Israel): Hamas militants tunnelled into southern Israel on Sunday from the Gaza Strip in a brazen pre-dawn attack, lobbing grenades and bombs into a tank at the border, killing two of its four-man crew and kidnapping its gunner, the military said.

The attack on the military post near the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel, Gaza and Egypt was the first by Gaza militants since Israel withdrew from the coastal strip last summer. Israel had been alert for an attack in the area in recent days, but Brig. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, the chief of Israel's southern command, said the military was unaware a tunnel was being dug.

Revenge attack

Militants from Hamas, the Palestinians' ruling party, and other smaller factions that took part in the raid said the attack was meant to avenge Israel's recent killing of militant leaders and civilians. Three militants were killed in an ensuing gunbattle with soldiers, they said. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was to meet top security officials to discuss a response, and convene his inner Cabinet for an emergency session.

``We in Israel hold the Palestinian Authority, headed by Chairman Abu Mazen and the Palestinian Government responsible for this event, with all that implies,'' Mr. Olmert said at the start of Israel's weekly Cabinet meeting. — AP

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