TYRE (Lebanon), July 12: Israel bombarded Lebanon after two soldiers were captured by Hezbollah guerillas on Wednesday in bloody day of cross-border violence that left 11 people dead, opening up a dangerous new front in the Middle East conflict.

Israeli forces pounded targets from the land, sea and air and sent troops into Lebanon after the Hezbollah raid on an army patrol on the volatile border which Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert branded an “act of war.”

A total of eight Israeli soldiers were killed, along with a Hezbollah fighter and two Lebanese civilians in the deadliest day on the border since Israel ended its 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon six years ago.

The White House held Syria and Iran responsible, as world powers appealed for restraint to prevent a further escalation of a crisis first sparked by the capture of an Israeli soldier by Palestinians on June 25.

Olmert insisted there would be no negotiations with “terrorists” and said he held the Beirut government fully responsible as warplanes, gunboats and artillery pounded Israel’s northern neighbour, hitting Hezbollah and civilian targets including eight bridges.

“This was an act of war without any provocation on the sovereign territory... of the state of Israel,” Olmert said as Israel lodged a formal protest with the United Nations.

“Israel will react in a decisive way so that those responsible for the attack will pay a high and painful price,” said Olmert, facing the most serious test of his leadership since his government took office in May.

Hezbollah, whose militia was instrumental in forcing Israeli troops out of Lebanon in May 2000, demanded the release of Arab prisoners in return for the soldiers.

“They will only return home through indirect negotiations and an exchange of prisoners,” Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said, saying the abduction was aimed at drawing international attention to the plight of “thousands of Lebanese, Palestinian and Arab detainees.”

After an emergency meeting, the Israeli cabinet later gave the green light to unspecified retaliatory action against Lebanon, which has been mired in its own political crisis since the murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri in 2005.—AFP