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Israeli Army Enters Lebanon After Soldiers Taken

People stand on the ruins of Qassimiya bridge in southern Lebanon. Israel invaded Lebanon in a ground and air assault to retrieve two soldiers snatched by Hezbollah, the first such mission into the country since a 2000 pullout.
Joseph Barrak
/
AFP/Getty Images
People stand on the ruins of Qassimiya bridge in southern Lebanon. Israel invaded Lebanon in a ground and air assault to retrieve two soldiers snatched by Hezbollah, the first such mission into the country since a 2000 pullout.

Israel bombs Lebanese bridges and sends troops north into a region it occupied for more than 20 years, in response to the Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers. Just 10 miles south of Beirut, Israeli planes attacked a center Israel identified as a guerrilla base.

Israel called the abduction -- carried out by Hezbollah guerillas from Lebanon-- "an act of war." Officials say they hold Lebanon responsible.

At least eight Israeli soldiers were killed in Wednesday's conflict. Israeli warplanes have attacked dozens of targets in Lebanon, including roads and bridges, and at least two Lebanese civilians have reported been killed.

The leader of Hezbollah says the captured soldiers will only be released in return for prisoners in Israeli jails. Israel says it will not negotiate.

The latest flare-up in violence comes as Israeli forces are also operating in Gaza, where they are trying to find a captured Israeli soldier and stop rocket fire into Israeli neighborhoods.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Linda Gradstein
Linda Gradstein has been the Israel correspondent for NPR since 1990. She is a member of the team that received the Overseas Press Club award for her coverage of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the team that received Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism for her coverage of the Gulf War. Linda spent 1998-9 as a Knight Journalist Fellow at Stanford University.