Israeli security forces extended high alert Monday morning around the country after Palestinian militants killed two soldiers and abducted another in their raid on an outpost near the Gaza Strip Sunday morning.

A number of Israel Defense Forces' bulldozers and tanks are positioned in a security area 500 meters south of the border of Gaza Stripe, while the troops keep searching the tunnels and Palestinian gunmen in Gaza, witnesses said.

An armed helicopter is hovering in the air, they added.

An army spokesman told Xinhua Monday afternoon that the troops are preparing for the next step according to the orders of commanders.

Israeli army blew up the tunnel used by the Palestinian militants for the Sunday attack and found a number of side branches in the nearby Kibbutz Kerem Shalom.

Israel Radio reported that security forces are keeping highest alert around the country. Policemen have deployed along the seam- line between Israel and the West Bank and security forces were enhanced in checkpoints and crowded public areas in Jerusalem.

In wake of the coordinate attack by the Palestinian armed groups, Israel Prison Service also kept a close eye on the Palestinian prisoners and suspended family visits temporarily.

On Sunday night, the Israeli cabinet granted the IDF permission to carry out extensive air and ground operation.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has instructed Israel Defense Forces (IDF) commanders to prepare for a prolonged and extensive military operation after a soldier was kidnapped by Palestinian militants, local media reported on Monday.

Olmert said that he had given the military commanders instructions to deploy forces so that they were ready for a prolonged and extensive operation against Palestinian militants and their chiefs.

There will be no immunity for anyone who was holding the abducted soldier, Olmert said in a speech at a business conference in Jerusalem.

The prime minister also said that he held the entire Palestinian leadership responsible for the safety of the soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

Shalit was seized in a cross-border raid early Sunday, which also killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded four others.

Eight Palestinian gunmen from three armed groups including Hamas' armed wing mounted a coordinated attack on an Israeli army post near the Kerem Shalom crossing on Gaza-Israel border early Sunday.

In the wake of the attack, Israeli troops and tanks, banked by a helicopter, entered into the Gaza Strip to manhunt the Palestinian gunmen.

It was the largest incursion since Israel pulled out soldiers and settlers from the strip last summer after a 38-year presence.

Source: Xinhua