Palestinian Militants Attack Border

Tunnel Into Israel At Gaza, Kill 2 Soldiers And Capture Another

(CBS/AP) 
The security body authorized Olmert to order military moves against Palestinian militants in Gaza, but first there would be diplomatic efforts to win return of the soldier, according to a government statement.

In the hours after the battle and the abduction, Israel issued threats, not offers to talk.

Olmert blamed Abbas, widely known as Abu Mazen, and the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

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

A statement from Abbas' office deplored the attack and said it threatened to give Israel a "pretext to launch a widespread military operation" against Gaza. Abbas was in touch with world leaders, including the U.S. secretary of state and the British foreign secretary, to discuss the latest crisis, said aide Nabil Abu Rdeneh.

Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz issued a direct threat against the militants holding Shalit, warning that "anyone who causes the soldier to be harmed should know that the soldier's blood is on his head."

"We intend to respond to the incident this morning in a way in which all involved ... understand that the price will be painful," Peretz told a news conference at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv.

Government spokesman Ghazi Hamad of Hamas said he knew of the abduction only from news reports. In a rare gesture, he addressed Israelis in Hebrew, learned while in an Israeli prison.

Speaking in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Deputy Prime Minister Nasser Shaer of Hamas called for the soldier's release. "We care about the life of the soldier and we call upon the kidnappers to guarantee his life and to release him," Shaer said.

He said Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh were meeting late Sunday to discuss the issue of the soldier, but Abbas' office would not confirm that.

Hamas TV ran a statement by Abu Musanna, a spokesman for Islamic Army, a PRC offshoot, rejecting the appeals. He said the group's demands in exchange for the soldier would be "a prize for our people."

Reporters and photographers swarmed into Mitzpeh Hila, a tiny village in Israel's north where the soldier's family lives. His parents did not talk to reporters, but Maj. Gen. Gen. Elazar Stern, commander of the army's manpower branch, said he told them that, despite reports of Shalit being wounded, he was still able to walk.

"Gilad went on his feet," Stern said. Channel 10 TV reported the soldier's blood-spattered footprints were found leading into Gaza.

A neighbor, Ilana Levy-Zrihan, said Shalit had been in the army for 11 months, and described him as "quiet, introverted, pleasant, everybody's friend." Pictures showed him as a slender youth with black-rimmed glasses.

Hard-line Israelis clamored for a large-scale Israeli invasion of Gaza to re-assert Israeli control. Shortly after the attack, Israel sent forces into the nearby area of Gaza. They were uprooting trees and searching for the beginning of the tunnel. The forces were still in Gaza at nightfall.