The Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, says Israel will hit back at Hezbollah but will keep in mind the country's overall strategic interests.

The warning followed a bomb attack in southern Lebanon in which one Israeli soldier was killed and at least six others were wounded.

Mr Barak, speaking after a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah in Amman, said that the army would retaliate against anyone who tried to hit Israeli targets in southern Lebanon.

"We will retaliate for any attack coming from south Lebanon and if it is Hezbollah, then we will hit Hezbollah," he said.

Israeli warplanes staged two retaliatory bombing raids against suspected guerrilla hideouts on Sunday.

Correspondents say Mr Barak is under intense domestic pressure to take strong military action because Hezbollah has killed at least five Israeli soldiers in recent days.

On Friday, Israeli forces narrowly failed to assassinate a senior guerrilla leader in a missile attack by a helicopter gunship.

Six civilians, including a woman and her two children, were wounded.

The attack was thought to be in reprisal for the killing of Colonel Akel Hashem, deputy head of the pro-Israel militia, the South Lebanon Army, earlier in the week.

Israel has blamed the escalation of violence on Syria, but Damascus says it has nothing to do with the fighting.

Speaking in Hebrew, Mr Barak denied suggestions that Israel was holding back from stronger action so as to safeguard its struggling peace talks with Syria.

But he did say the government was taking Israel's overall strategic interests into account.

He also said Israel was still determined to withdraw from southern Lebanon by July as part of a peace agreement with Syria.

"We will not go at this stage into details of what might happen if July comes closer and there is no agreement. I believe that there could be an agreement, and this is the main road towards peace in the Middle East," he said.

The mounting tensions come at a time when there has also been a breakdown in Israel's negotiations with the Palestinians.