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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Israel warns of "long war" over soldier |
| 2006-07-04 |
| While Israeli tanks and infantry massed along the Gaza Strip's northern border for a threatened ground incursion, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the campaign to free Corporal Gilad Shalit could turn into "a long war." Israel rejected a 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) ultimatum set by the factions, which demanded that the Jewish state free 1,000 prisoners. Unless the demands were met, the factions said, "the enemy will bear full responsibility for future consequences." "This is a long war," Olmert said. "It requires lots of patience, sometimes endless restraint. We have to know when to clench our teeth and to deal a decisive blow." The smallest of the three militant groups, the previously unknown Islamic Army, said there would be no further information released on 19-year-old Shalit, who was seized in a cross-border raid on June 25. They sent conflicting signals about his fate. "Whether he will be killed or not killed, we will not disclose any information ... Discussion is closed," said Islamic Army spokesman Abu al-Muthana. But he later said: "We do not kill captives. Our Islam requires that we treat captives well and fairly They seek him here, they seek him there. Israelis seek him every where. Is he in heaven or in the Pit? That damned elusive Gilad Shalit. Osama al-Muzaini, a Hamas political leader, said the militant groups have withdrawn their representatives from the talks with the Egyptian mediators. He compared the fate of Shalit to that of Israeli airman Ron Arad, who has been missing since bailing out of his plane over southern Lebanon 20 years ago. There has been growing speculation Arad is dead. Ya think? "They (the militant factions) may kill him (Shalit), take him to another country or may hide him. All options are open," al-Muzaini said. Israel has hinted it could assassinate leaders of Hamas, whose government is under an international aid embargo, if Shalit is not freed. "I want to stress, none of them will be immune," Olmert said. Interior Minister Roni Bar-On told Israel Radio: "Hamas well understands ... that the sky will fall on them if they harm Gilad Shalit." Hamas, which advocates Israel's destruction, does not want to lose face by freeing Shalit without getting something in return. Israel says it does not want to set a precedent that could lead to more abductions. Hamas sources said Western diplomats, whom they did not name, had told the group that Israel had prepared a 13-man hit list headed by exiled leader Khaled Meshaal and including Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar. Israeli security sources said a commando raid to try to rescue Shalit remained an option but would be risky in Gaza's maze of alleyways. The last Israeli soldier abducted by Palestinians was killed in a failed rescue bid in 1994. |
| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |
| #1 Israel says it does not want to set a precedent that could lead to more abductions. A few decades late in realizing that but I suppose better late than never. |
| Posted by: AzCat 2006-07-04 18:21 |