 At the outset of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, which began with the Hezbollah terror group's attack across the international border, Harper defended publicly Israel's "right to defend itself," and described the Israeli response as "measured".Harper stated that Hezbollah and Hamas's release of Israeli prisoners (Hezbollah held the bodies of two dead Israeli soldiers who were killed in the initial attack) would bring an end to the conflict.On July 17, 2006, Harper noted that the situation had deteriorated since his initial comments, but that it was difficult for Israel to fight "non-governmental forces" embedded in the civilian population.