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An Israeli tank drives towards the Gaza Strip from a gathering point near Kibbutz Mefalsim in southern Israel. (AP)
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| By Associated Press July 3, 2006 |
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Three Palestinian militant groups that captured an Israeli soldier gave Israel less than 24 hours Monday to start releasing 1,500 Palestinian prisoners or "bear all the consequences."
The ultimatum came as Israel made good on its promise not to let Gaza sleep until the soldier was freed, firing artillery shells and missiles into the coastal strip, and massing troops and tanks along the Gaza-Israel border.
The militant groups, in a statement posted on the Web site of the ruling Hamas party's military wing, did not expressly say what those consequences would be, but implied the soldier could be killed. Israeli government spokesman Asaf Shariv said officials were studying the statement.
"We give the Zionist enemy until 6:00 tomorrow morning, Tuesday, July 4," the groups said in their statement, which was also faxed to news agencies.
"If the enemy does not respond to our humanitarian demands mentioned in previous leaflets on the conditions for dealing with the case of the missing soldier ... we will consider the soldier's case to be closed," it said. "And then the enemy must bear all the consequences of the future results."
Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, was captured June 25 in a cross-border raid by the military wing of the Palestinians' ruling Hamas party, and two allied groups, the Popular Resistance Committees and the Army of Islam.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said Israel would not negotiate Shalit's release. But Israel has swapped prisoners before to win the release of captured citizens, alive and dead, and privately, political and defense leaders have not ruled out freeing prisoners who weren't involved in attacks on Israel, confidants say.
In the meantime, Israel has sent tanks, troops and warplanes to attack Gaza over the past week to press militants to free Shalit. Intensive efforts to mediate his release, involving Egypt and other regional players, have not been successful.
There has been no sign of life from the soldier since his seizure, and no concrete evidence of his condition, though Israeli officials have said they think he is alive. The Shalit family had no immediate comment on the ultimatum.
Shalit's captors initially demanded the release of about 500 women and children prisoners held in Israeli jails. They later raised their demands to include an additional 1,000 prisoners. Israel is currently holding about 9,000 Palestinians.
The ultimatum requires Israel only to "start" freeing the prisoners by Tuesday morning.
Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis, has refused to renounce violence or recognize Israel since taking power in March. But the Hamas government and Hamas leaders based in Syria have denied responsibility for the soldier's capture.
A Hamas government spokesman said the ultimatum was "a message to Israel that all its military escalation will not get it anywhere."
"If it continues every day to kill and target and attack, it won't get the soldier, alive or dead," spokesman Ghazi Hamad said.
In their statement, Shalit's captors accused Israel of not "learning lessons" from the cases of other kidnapped soldiers. The last Israeli soldier kidnapped by Hamas, Nachshon Wachsman, died in 1994 in an Israeli commando raid on his captors' Jerusalem hideout.
Breaking her silence in an op-ed piece in the Haaretz newspaper, Wachsman's mother, Esther, accused Israel's leaders of a lack of candor in dealing with hostage cases.
"I am not calling for the release of murderers, but they (Israel's leaders) should not insult our intelligence because they have negotiated and they have given in to terror," Esther Wachsman wrote.
When it launched its first large-scale military action in Gaza since withdrawing from the strip last summer, Israel's declared purpose was to lean on militants to release Shalit. In statements since, government officials have said the campaign is also meant to topple the Hamas government and stop gunmen from launching rockets at southern Israel.
Olmert told his Cabinet on Sunday that "I want nobody to sleep at night in Gaza" until Shalit is freed, according to an official present at the meeting.
Early Monday, Israel massed tanks and troops across from northern Gaza, and pounded the area with artillery. At daybreak, a small force of Israeli tanks entered northern Gaza, but the military said it was a "limited" mission to find explosives and tunnels near the border fence.
Additional Israeli troops moved into place across from northern Gaza on Sunday, showing clear preparations for an invasion. For months, Palestinian militants have been using northern Gaza to launch homemade rockets at Israeli villages near the border fence, and Israel has been unable to stop the barrages with repeated airstrikes and artillery attacks.
Also Monday, Israeli troops killed one gunman after he and another militant approached soldiers in northern Gaza, the military said, without providing further details. It had no information on the second gunman.
Palestinian medical officials confirmed that an armed Palestinian man had been killed in Beit Hanoun, near the fence with Israel.
Separately, Israeli artillery hit a house on the outskirts of Beit Hanoun, Palestinians said, slightly injuring one person.
Around the same time, Israeli aircraft hit several targets around Gaza, including a building in Gaza City where the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, has an office, Palestinians and the military said.
A missile struck the second floor of the two-story building, setting it on fire. No one was in the office at the time, and a family living on the first floor escaped harm.
Other targets were empty fields and a building in northern Gaza, Palestinians said.
Israeli navy gunships aimed at a beachfront Hamas camp but missed, Palestinian security officials said.
On Sunday Israeli troops shot dead three armed Palestinians near the long-closed Gaza airport in southern Gaza. Two of them carrying explosive belts, and Israel said they were planning a suicide attack.
The Palestinian parliament, meanwhile, held its first session Monday since Israel arrested 64 top Hamas officials in the West Bank, including eight Cabinet ministers and 20 lawmakers, late last week.
"By arresting those lawmakers and ministers, Israel is trying to hijack the Palestinian ... political regime, but our people will protect our political regime," said parliament speaker Abdel Aziz Duaik, who Palestinian officials erroneously reported was arrested Thursday.
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, whose empty office was hit by Israeli missiles on Sunday, did not attend the session, which was convened to discuss the arrests.
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