|
Israel: 'extreme measures'
ISRAEL launched a ground and air assault on the Gaza Strip Wednesday, vowing to used "extreme measures" to rescue a teenage soldier captured by Palestinian militants.Palestinians warned the offensive would only trigger more bloodshed, with the Hamas-led government slamming it as "military madness" and Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas branding it collective punishment. It was the first major ground incursion into Gaza since Israel pulled out of the impoverished coastal strip last year in a highly controversial operation that ended a 38-year occupation. "We decided to use extreme means to bring Gilad (Shalit) home and we have no intention of reoccupying the Gaza Strip," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was quoted as saying in by public radio referring to the 19-year-old conscript. "Last night's operation will continue. No one who is involved in terror will be immune. We have one central goal: to bring Gilad home." Much of Gaza was plunged into darkness after war planes waged night-time strikes to blow up a power plant and three bridges as militants prepared for an invasion by building barricades and blocking roads. Before dawn, tanks, armoured cars and bulldozers rolled several kilometres (miles) into southern Gaza, where the missing soldier was believed to be held, pushing into the disused international airport near Rafah. No casualties were reported. The move followed intensive efforts to free Shalit after his seizure in an attack Sunday that killed two soldiers and was claimed by three groups including fighters loyal to Hamas. Israeli planes later raided a Hamas training camp in Rafah. White House spokesman Tony Snow backed Israel's "right to defend itself" and blamed Hamas for the incursion, but urged Israel to ensure "innocent civilians are not harmed." Posted by: tipper 2006-06-28 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=157542 |