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Israel to keep Gaza blocked until soldier freed
Israel vowed on Tuesday to keep its blockade of Gaza Strip in place until Hamas agreed to free a captured Israeli soldier, following the failure of negotiations mediated by Egypt yesterday, a senior government official said Tuesday."There will be no expansion of the opening of the Gaza crossings until they release Gilad Shalit," the official said. Shalit was captured in a 2006 cross-border operation by Gaza fighters, including members of the Islamist Hamas movement which has ruled the Palestinian enclave since June 2007. "The crossings ... are operating at a minimum to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza," an Israeli political source added. "And they (the crossings) will remain so until Gilad Shalit is released." Posted by: Fred 2009-03-18 |
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