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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Israel prepares offensive |
| 2006-06-26 |
| ISRAELI troops massed on the Gaza border Monday as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered commanders to prepare a major offensive after the kidnapping of a soldier, igniting fears of a sharp escalation in the Middle East conflict. The 20-year-old Israeli corporal, who also holds French nationality, was snatched on Sunday in a dawn raid on an army post on the Gaza Strip border in which two other Israeli servicemen and two Palestinian fighters were killed. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, under intense international pressure to resolve the crisis, ordered his security services to launch a massive manhunt for the kidnapped conscript to avert a possible widescale Israeli assault. Meanwhile, three Palestinian groups, including the armed wing of Hamas, called for the release of all Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails in exchange for information on the kidnapped soldier, a demand Mr Olmert promptly rejected. "The question of freeing (Palestinian) prisoners is in no way on the Israeli government agenda," Mr Olmert said during a speech in Jerusalem. "There will be no negotiations, no bargaining, no agreements," he said. The premier also vowed that a "large-scale military operation is approaching" and that Gaza had been sealed off by Israeli forces. "We will not wait indefinitely, because we have no intention of being blackmailed by Hamas." Earlier Monday, Mr Olmert said he had "instructed the heads of the army to deploy our forces in order to be ready to prepare for a prolonged and extensive military operation in order to strike the terror organisations and commanders. "We will reach everyone, anywhere and they know. There will be no immunity for anyone," he vowed. Sunday's attack, which saw gunmen tunnel their way under the border, was the deadliest militant assault in the area since last year when Israel left Gaza, which has since become plagued by lawlessness and deadly political feuding. "We consider the Palestinian Authority on all its senior levels, from the chairman down to the prime minister, as the element responsible for this operation (Sunday's attack) and everything that it implies," Mr Olmert said. A high-ranking security official also threatened that Israel would work to topple the Hamas-led government - boycotted financially and politically by the West since taking office in March - unless the soldier is freed alive. "We will make sure that the Hamas government ceases to operate if the kidnapped soldier is not returned to us alive," the source said. "President Mahmud Abbas ordered prime minister Ismail Haniya, interior minister Said Siam and security service commanders to immediately launch a serious search today to release the soldier," an official said. Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said the Palestinian president, who condemned Sunday's attack and ordered a manhunt for the missing soldier, Gilad Shalit, was locked in an intense round of contacts to stave off threatened Israeli retaliation. Outside the Kerem Shalom gate into Gaza, near the site of Sunday's attack, the army was amassing tanks, ground troops and artillery, waiting for the green light from political leaders for any possible strike. While the Hamas-led government, boycotted by both Israel and the West as a terrorist organisation, has also demanded the immediate release of the soldier, its armed wing was among three militant groups which claimed Sunday's assault. A representative of the Popular Resistance Committees, which admitted carrying out the attack together with the Hamas wing and the previously unheard of Army of Islam, said in a telephone call to AFP that it was holding the soldier. "He is alive and in good health," the representative of the group said on condition of anonymity. "He is not seriously injured." But the representative gave no indication as to the whereabouts of Shalit, whose bloodstained flak jacket was found near the scene of the attack. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said it was Israel's "natural and legitimate right" to use military force to retrieve its missing soldier. As the international community called for Shalit's immediate release, the United States and the European Commission urged Israel to show restraint amid fears of an all-out disintegration in the fragile Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "We urge both sides to exercise restraint and avoid steps which further escalate the situation," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. "As we have said all along, it is the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority government to stop all acts of violence," McCormack said. Israeli Housing Minister Meir Sheetrit said that the government would first give diplomacy a chance. "We decided not to have an immediate military reaction and give diplomacy a chance," he said. "We will not let anger dictate our reaction." |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #7 Nobody else wants the Palestinians. They won't accept them into their countries in any quantity, even sometimes for valid medical reasons! The only reason they put up with them is because they are a useful tool to screw with Israel. Otherwise, they'd have been history long ago. |
| Posted by: grb 2006-06-26 23:09 |
| #6 Hamas pucker factor ought to be getting high about this time unless they are completely whacked out. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2006-06-26 22:27 |
| #5 There will never be any peace between the "palestinians" and Israel. The entire Middle East fuels the flames of hatred and discord in the area. The only solution is to militarize the original Balfour border area, and evict by force all muslims from the State of Israel. Follow that up with a threat to nuke any capital of any country that defies Israel, or attacks its people. Once you make the threat, follow through if needed. I will personally back anything Israel does to end the constant drain on its people and resources, including the deaths of tens of thousands of arabs. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2006-06-26 21:12 |
| #4 Is it time to chlorinate the gene pool? My vote is for pool shock treatment. Time to get rid of that nasty scum and slime build up. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-06-26 20:00 |
| #3 Is it time to chlorinate the gene pool? Al |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2006-06-26 18:32 |
| #2 Get the "surprise party" ready for delivery to Damascus, too. |
| Posted by: mojo 2006-06-26 17:52 |
| #1 it's time to crush these cockroaches |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-06-26 17:16 |