Hamas armed men kill 2 IDF and kidnap one - IDF move on Gaza awaited

Israeli tanks moved into the Gaza Strip today. Palestinians killed two soldiers(named as Lieutenant Hanan Barak (20) from Arad and Sergeant Pavel Slocker from Dimona) and have kidnapped a third (named as 19-year-old Gilad Shalit) at the Israeli base at Kerem Shalom. Attackers ( 8 are reported) claimed to be Hamas armed brigades, entered through a tunnel dug from the southern Gaza town of Rafah. The Israeli army described the operation as ``very sophisticated,'' it is claimed the attack was long in planning and was executed (uncluding tunnelling) over several days. Kerem Shalom lies at the junction of the Israeli, Egypan Israeli base near the Egyptian border.

The Palestinians used anti-tank missiles and grenades against a tank and lookout post killing two soldiers and wounding one, while a third is ``apparently in the hands of the Palestinians,'' Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Dan Halutz said at a news conference today. He said the kidnapped soldier is probably still alive.

Israel closed down all border crossings with Gaza today after the attack, the army said.

Yesterday, Israeli special forces seized two "wanted" Palestinians in the country's first arrest operation in the Gaza Strip since it pulled out of the area last year, the army said.

Sunday Night

Much comment and a little more information , claims that the tunnellers went 1/2 mile, that they were trained by Hezbollah and the Iranians and nateanyahu is saying I told you so Omert you pussy cat we must hit them so hard we breach their barriers of fear.

Olmert has given Abbas 2 days to hand the soldierback. Curiously comment from world leaders is hard to find.

Late today Hamas government spokesman, Ghazi Hamad, made a rare appeal to the organization's militants to look after the health of the kidnapped soldier.

Israeli analysts speculated that just as Hizbullah used the abductionof 3 Israeli soldiers, in 2000 as a bargaining chip to secure the release of Lebanese militants held in Israel, Hamas hopes to do the same with the soldier kidnapped Sunday. The fact that Mr. Hamad spoke in Hebrew indicated that Hamas may have taken a page from Hizbullah's effective use of psychological warfare aimed at the Israeli public.

Kick one, they all limp.
The border crossing point was actually at Rafah until the Gaza pullout and moved at Israeli insistence to Kerem Shalom, 6 Km. from Rafah, and Israeli troops oversee all customs transactions and movement of goods which is against the agreement about allowing Gaza to have freeports, etc.,