Sunday, June 25, 2006   Israel threatened strong military action
today after Palestinian militants, including those belonging to
the ruling faction Hamas, emerged from a long tunnel dug 300
yards into Israel, killed two soldiers, wounded three and
kidnapped a fourth wounded soldier at an Israeli outpost near
the Egyptian border.  Two of the eight Palestinians were killed;
the rest escaped back into Gaza with the Israeli soldier, Cpl.
Gilad Shalit, 19, who is believed to have been wounded and whom
they may want to try to exchange for jailed militants. He was
the first Israeli soldier kidnapped in more than a decade.
Israeli tanks moved a short distance into Gaza, the first tank
incursion since Israel pulled its settlers and soldiers from the
territory last summer. Israeli officials talked of serious
retaliation for the raid, which was weeks in the planning and
for which the ruling Hamas faction took partial responsibility,
along with other militant groups like the Popular Resistance
Committees and a newly for