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IDF soldier reacts as a tank fires a shell toward Gaza (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners July 1, 2006 |
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Palestinian militants holding an Israeli soldier issued a new set of demands Saturday, calling for the release of 1,000 prisoners and a halt to Israel's military offensive in Gaza. But Israel rejected the demands.
As new information emerged that the Israeli hostage was in stable condition, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis had yet to bear fruit, but he appealed to all parties to keep trying.
Israeli forces entered the Gaza Strip on Wednesday and have carried out continuous airstrikes and bombardments throughout the territory to pressure the Palestinians to release the soldier, 19-year-old Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was seized during a cross-border militant raid on an army post on June 25.
The militants, linked to the Palestinians' ruling Hamas party, issued their latest demands Saturday as Israel kept up its military pressure. Aircraft strikes pounded Gaza for a fourth straight night, and artillery from tanks and gunboats bombarded northern and southern Gaza on Saturday. For example, Israeli gunboats fired on open grounds being used in Gaza as rocket launch sites, the military said. No injuries have been reported in the attacks.
Concerned about the rising tensions, the U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting Friday. The Palestinians asked the United Nations' most powerful body to condemn Israel's actions and order a halt to the Israeli offensive. But no resolution was circulated, apparently because of opposition by the U.S., Israel's closest ally.
The new call for a prisoner swap was issued by Hamas' military wing and two smaller militant groups with ties to Hamas -- the Popular Resistance Committees and the Army of Islam. The three groups have claimed responsibility for Shalit's abduction.
In a joint statement, the militants condemned Israel for launching a military operation while the diplomatic efforts were continuing. Egyptian mediators have been trying to find a resolution for days.
"Despite the efforts of the mediators, who quietly tried to quickly resolve this humanitarian case, the enemy and its political leadership is still under the influence of their military and security commanders, who know nothing but the language of invasion, destruction and killing," the statement said.
The militants called for the release of 1,000 prisoners, including non-Palestinian Muslims and Arabs held by Israel. The gesture appeared to be aimed at boosting support in the broader Arab world.
The statement repeated a demand made earlier this week for the release of all Palestinian women and minors held in Israeli prisons -- an estimated 500 people -- in exchange for information about Shalit.
Like earlier demands, Saturday's did not promise to release the soldier or provide any information about his condition.
Israel rejected the latest demands regarding the hostage. "The Israeli position is that he should be released immediately and unconditionally," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.
Abbas said Saturday that diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis had yet to bear fruit, but that they should continue.
"After a week of continuous and long contacts with all parties, Palestinian, Arab, international and particularly Egyptian, the president ... is still exerting efforts to stop the Israeli aggression and avoid more disasters for the Palestinian people," a statement from Abbas' office said. "The next hours are critical, sensitive and serious. And though the efforts are still ongoing, we have not reached an acceptable solution until now," the statement said.
Abbas also appealed to all parties to work to find "an acceptable solution" to the crisis.
On Saturday, Ziad Abu Aen, the Palestinian deputy minister of prisoner affairs, said Shalit has received medical treatment for his wounds and is in stable condition. Speaking at a news conference in Ramallah, Abu Aen cited unidentified "mediators" as telling him that Shalit was injured during the raid that captured him.
"He has three wounds," Abu Aen said. "I guess shrapnel wounds." He did not provide further details. But Israel's Channel 1 TV, citing a senior Israeli security official, reported Friday that a Palestinian doctor treated Shalit for minor shoulder and stomach wounds, and that the soldier was in good condition. Israel Radio said the doctor's visit took place on Thursday.
The fate of the prisoners held by Israel is an emotional issue in Palestinian society. Palestinian leaders routinely call for their release, and the militants' calls for a prisoner swap has won widespread support among the general public.
Israel sent troops into southern Gaza on Wednesday -- the first major raid into the territory since Israeli soldiers pulled out last year after a 38-year occupation -- and began a wave of airstrikes across the coastal strip.
In addition to its clampdown in Gaza, it has detained eight Palestinian Cabinet ministers and in an unprecedented measure, revoked the Jerusalem residency rights of four senior Hamas officials.
One of the artillery rounds fired into Gaza on Saturday morning hit a Hamas training camp. One of the missiles fired from the air struck one of the greenhouses Israel left behind when it pulled out of Gaza over the summer after a 38-year occupation.
Then, the greenhouses were a symbol of hopes for rallying Gaza's economy, shattered by the preceding five years of fighting between Israel and the Palestinians. But violence after the pullout has dashed these hopes.
The current military offensive has left many Gazans without electricity or water. The United Nations has warned the territory is on the verge of a humanitarian crisis, and the International Red Cross said it was working to get aid shipments into the area.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said Friday that the Israeli offensive is aimed at toppling the Hamas-led government, which took office in March after winning legislative elections. "This total war is proof of a premeditated plan," he said. He assured his people he is working with international mediators to reach a solution. Haniyeh spoke in a sermon at a Gaza mosque as Hamas gunmen stood guard outside. It was his first public appearance since Shalit was abducted from an army post near the Gaza border. Much of Hamas' leadership has gone into hiding, fearing they could be targeted by Israel.
Israel considers Hamas, which has killed more than 250 Israelis in suicide bombings, a terrorist group, and has helped lead an international economic boycott against the Hamas-led Palestinian government.
With troops massed on the border, Israeli officials on Thursday postponed a planned invasion of northern Gaza as international mediators sought a way out of the standoff.
Haniyeh said he was in contact with Arab, Muslim and European leaders to try to resolve the crisis, "but this Israeli military escalation complicates matters and makes it more difficult."
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in an interview published in Egypt's Al-Ahram newspaper Friday that his government had been holding talks with Hamas leaders, who agreed to conditionally release Shalit, but Israel had not yet accepted the agreement. He gave no details on the conditions laid down by Hamas.
The AP contributed to this report.
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