Even as Israel dealt with an escalating crisis in Gaza over a captured soldier, Lebanon's Hizbullah militants captured two more soldiers Wednesday, opening a second Israeli front and raising the specter of a broader regional confrontation.

The engagement with the Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hizbullah began Wednesday, when militants fired dozens of Katyusha rockets into northern Israel, drawing the Israeli army into the most violent cross-border battle with the Shiite militia since 2000.

"Hizbullah has had several failed attempts to kidnap Israeli soldiers in the recent past, but the connection for this attack is clearly what's happening in Gaza," says Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, professor of politics at the Lebanese American University and author of "Hizbullah: Politics and Religion." "Many people will support this attack especially around the region."

Israel says it is holding the Lebanese government responsible for the safe return of the two soldiers. The attack puts the Lebanese government in a difficult position as it includes a member of Hizbullah, even though many Lebanese legislators support the disarming of the party.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the Hizbullah attack an "act of war" Wednesday and said that he holds the Lebanese government responsible for the safe return of the two soldiers. Mr. Olmert promised a "very painful and far-reaching" response to the incursion.

But analysts say that Israel must look past the Lebanese government in this instance.

"Israel's problem is that there is no identifiable body that it can hold responsible," says Avi Segal, an international-relations and war-strategy expert lecturing at Ben-Gurion and Hebrew Universities. "It's easy to talk about a state, but go find Hizbullah, go find Hamas."

"It's not clear that Lebanon is the answer," says Gen. (ret.) Giora Inbar, the former Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) commander for southern Lebanon. "We need to first see what is the address, and it appears to be in Syria, with its connections to Hizbullah and Iran. I don't suggest conquering those countries, but we need to make connections, to negotiate."

The Hizbullah raid that captured the soldiers came early Wednesday morning. Fighters first fired a volley of rockets, then attacked Israeli soldiers on patrol and abducted two, causing other casualties, said Capt. Jacob Dallal, an Israel army spokesman. Israeli jets struck deep into southern Lebanon, blasting bridges and Hizbullah positions and killing two civilians, Lebanese security officials said. At least six Israeli soldiers were killed.

Hizbullah's military arm said in a statement that its fighters captured the two Israeli soldiers "on the border with occupied Palestine, fulfilling the promise to liberate its prisoners" held by Israel. It said the prisoners were moved to "a safe area."

A top Hamas leader said his movement did not coordinate with Hizbullah over the capture of the soldiers, but said it was "natural" for the two groups to work together in their demands for prisoner swaps with Israel.

Negotiating is complicated for Israel. Until now, it has held its hard-line stance, refusing to negotiate with the Palestinians over the soldier in Gaza, Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

Even if it chooses to negotiate with Hizbullah over a prisoner exchange, "The problem is that Israel now has to deal with many bodies, and one cannot necessarily force the other to act," says Yoram Peri, the head of the Chaim Herzog Institute for Media, Politics, and Society in Tel Aviv.

Professor Peri suggests that until Israel decides to negotiate with Hizbullah, the conflict that has now spread from Gaza to southern Lebanon will probably be protracted and intense. "This is not a story which will be solved in one or two days," he says. "The military confrontation will be much more intensive."

In south Lebanon's dusty hilltop villages, which are populated by Shiite Muslim supporters of Hizbullah, convoys of cars sporting yellow Hizbullah flags drove through the streets honking horns in celebration at the news of the capture of two Israeli soldiers. "The resistance has shown today that it can defeat the Israelis every time," says a beaming Mohammed Deed in the village of Habboush.

Other Hizbullah supporters stood in the center of main roads handing out fistfuls of sweets to motorists, a traditional symbol of celebration.

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