Raise your hand if you're surprised.
Israel has gone to war with Palestine. "No terrorist will be immune."
EDIT: One of the things I hate about CNN is that they change their articles as new information comes, but keep the same link. Full text (as of the time I posted) under the cut.
Israeli troops move into Gaza to retrieve kidnapped soldier
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli troops crossed the border into southern Gaza early Wednesday in a campaign meant to secure the return of a soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants over the weekend, the Israeli military said.
Jets hit a power plant in Gaza City and knocked out a bridge connecting the northern and southern parts of town in predawn airstrikes, witnesses said.
Video from the Palestinian Ramattan news agency showed fires burning at the site of the power station. (Watch scenes of Gaza damage as tanks roll -- 2:07)
Israeli troops and tanks had gathered along the Gaza border as tensions mounted over the abduction of 19-year-old Cpl. Gilad Shalit.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday threatened an "extended campaign" against Palestinian leaders unless the soldier was released.
"All targets" would be considered for possible action, Olmert told Israel's parliament, the day after ruling out any deals with militants for Shalit's release.
"We would not make compromises with terror. We would not hold negotiation with [terror]," Olmert told the Knesset amid the escalating crisis.
"No terrorist would be immune."
In the first round of strikes soon after midnight, Israeli aircraft hit two bridges in central Gaza to limit the ability of Shalit's captors to move him, said Capt. Jacob Dallal, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces.
Dallal said Israel will go to "whatever lengths necessary" to bring Shalit back.
"We are trying to make it clear to the Palestinian Authority and to the terror organizations that we will take the necessary steps to secure his safe return," he said.
Israel has slapped a land and sea blockade on Gaza, cutting off people's movements and shipments of fuel and food, nine months after returning control of the territory to the Palestinians.
Inside Gaza, Palestinians have dumped piles of sand on major roads, intended to slow any advance of Israeli tanks and armor and provide cover for gunmen. (Watch Palestinians express defiance as tensions rise -- 2:34)
Israel says it is holding the Palestinian Authority responsible for the safety of Shalit, who was captured Sunday by Palestinian militants at a guard post inside Israel.
Olmert said he did not want to hurt innocents, but the Israeli defense minister said the potential offensive would be deadly.
"There is no doubt we will have to carry out an operation which could cost many lives, but the Palestinian groups have to understand there is a price to pay for any attacks against Israel," said Defense Minister Amir Peretz.
Israeli leaders said Hamas officials, including political leader Khaled Meshaal, who is in exile in Syria, could be targets of Israeli military action.
Aides said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya were directly involved in negotiations to free Shalit.
The Palestinian factions Fatah, headed by Abbas, and Haniya's Hamas, have pleaded with Israel to hold off on military action, saying an offensive would only complicate efforts to end the crisis.
Palestinian leaders have also said they fear Israel will not stop at freeing Shalit but will also go after Palestinian militants who have fired hundreds of crude Qassam rockets into Israel in recent months.
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres recognized a split between the politicians and the militants, saying Meshaal was behind the kidnapping and "wants to destroy any chance for peace." (Watch Peres' take on the escalating border tensions -- 6:27)
"All this was done against, maybe, the better judgment of the Palestinian leaders on the ground. The orders came from Syria. They came from a gentleman who wants to destroy any chance for peace," Peres said.
Meshaal, the head of the Hamas political office, lives in exile in Damascus.
"A small group of terrible people sitting in Damascus," Peres said, was mobilizing "the whole world against the Palestinians," who he said were the real victims of the kidnapping.
Peres said Israel believes that Shalit, who holds dual Israeli-French citizenship, is "alive and healthy."
Another teenager reported missing
In another development, the Popular Resistance Committees, one of the Palestinian militant groups that says it is holding Shalit, said it also was holding an Israeli settler in the West Bank.
Israeli police said a family in the settlement of Itamar near Nablus had filed a missing persons report. The missing settler was identified as Eliyahu Asheri, 18.
He was last seen Sunday night at the French Hill hitchhiking post in Jerusalem, on the road leading north to the West Bank. His parents reported him missing at noon Monday.
CNN's Elise Labott and John Vause contributed to this report.
EDIT: One of the things I hate about CNN is that they change their articles as new information comes, but keep the same link. Full text (as of the time I posted) under the cut.
Israeli troops move into Gaza to retrieve kidnapped soldier
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli troops crossed the border into southern Gaza early Wednesday in a campaign meant to secure the return of a soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants over the weekend, the Israeli military said.
Jets hit a power plant in Gaza City and knocked out a bridge connecting the northern and southern parts of town in predawn airstrikes, witnesses said.
Video from the Palestinian Ramattan news agency showed fires burning at the site of the power station. (Watch scenes of Gaza damage as tanks roll -- 2:07)
Israeli troops and tanks had gathered along the Gaza border as tensions mounted over the abduction of 19-year-old Cpl. Gilad Shalit.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday threatened an "extended campaign" against Palestinian leaders unless the soldier was released.
"All targets" would be considered for possible action, Olmert told Israel's parliament, the day after ruling out any deals with militants for Shalit's release.
"We would not make compromises with terror. We would not hold negotiation with [terror]," Olmert told the Knesset amid the escalating crisis.
"No terrorist would be immune."
In the first round of strikes soon after midnight, Israeli aircraft hit two bridges in central Gaza to limit the ability of Shalit's captors to move him, said Capt. Jacob Dallal, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces.
Dallal said Israel will go to "whatever lengths necessary" to bring Shalit back.
"We are trying to make it clear to the Palestinian Authority and to the terror organizations that we will take the necessary steps to secure his safe return," he said.
Israel has slapped a land and sea blockade on Gaza, cutting off people's movements and shipments of fuel and food, nine months after returning control of the territory to the Palestinians.
Inside Gaza, Palestinians have dumped piles of sand on major roads, intended to slow any advance of Israeli tanks and armor and provide cover for gunmen. (Watch Palestinians express defiance as tensions rise -- 2:34)
Israel says it is holding the Palestinian Authority responsible for the safety of Shalit, who was captured Sunday by Palestinian militants at a guard post inside Israel.
Olmert said he did not want to hurt innocents, but the Israeli defense minister said the potential offensive would be deadly.
"There is no doubt we will have to carry out an operation which could cost many lives, but the Palestinian groups have to understand there is a price to pay for any attacks against Israel," said Defense Minister Amir Peretz.
Israeli leaders said Hamas officials, including political leader Khaled Meshaal, who is in exile in Syria, could be targets of Israeli military action.
Aides said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya were directly involved in negotiations to free Shalit.
The Palestinian factions Fatah, headed by Abbas, and Haniya's Hamas, have pleaded with Israel to hold off on military action, saying an offensive would only complicate efforts to end the crisis.
Palestinian leaders have also said they fear Israel will not stop at freeing Shalit but will also go after Palestinian militants who have fired hundreds of crude Qassam rockets into Israel in recent months.
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres recognized a split between the politicians and the militants, saying Meshaal was behind the kidnapping and "wants to destroy any chance for peace." (Watch Peres' take on the escalating border tensions -- 6:27)
"All this was done against, maybe, the better judgment of the Palestinian leaders on the ground. The orders came from Syria. They came from a gentleman who wants to destroy any chance for peace," Peres said.
Meshaal, the head of the Hamas political office, lives in exile in Damascus.
"A small group of terrible people sitting in Damascus," Peres said, was mobilizing "the whole world against the Palestinians," who he said were the real victims of the kidnapping.
Peres said Israel believes that Shalit, who holds dual Israeli-French citizenship, is "alive and healthy."
Another teenager reported missing
In another development, the Popular Resistance Committees, one of the Palestinian militant groups that says it is holding Shalit, said it also was holding an Israeli settler in the West Bank.
Israeli police said a family in the settlement of Itamar near Nablus had filed a missing persons report. The missing settler was identified as Eliyahu Asheri, 18.
He was last seen Sunday night at the French Hill hitchhiking post in Jerusalem, on the road leading north to the West Bank. His parents reported him missing at noon Monday.
CNN's Elise Labott and John Vause contributed to this report.