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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Israel rejects negotiations, holds Syria & Palestine responsible for soldiers safety |
| 2006-07-03 |
| Israel on Monday rejected an ultimatum from Palestinian militants holding an Israeli soldier, saying it will not negotiate on their demand to release Palestinian prisoners. Israel was answering a demand from the three Palestinian militant groups who claimed responsibility for the June 25 kidnapping of Cpl. Gilad Shalit. The groups set a Tuesday morning deadline for Israel to begin releasing Palestinian prisoners or suffer unspecified "consequences." The groups said the matter would be "closed" if Israel did not respond by the deadline. As the day wore on, Ghazi Hamad, a spokesman for the Hamas-led Palestinian leadership, said his government was not involved in negotiations for Shalit's release but described Israel's continued military strikes as "complicating" efforts to find an end to the crisis. He also called on Israel to deal with what he called the "tragedy" of almost 10,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said Monday evening that releasing the soldier unconditionally could end the Israeli military operation in Gaza. He warned that Hamas politicians who act like terrorists "will be treated as terrorists." Asked if that meant that Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya would be targeted for assassination, Regev said the Hamas political leadership had expressed approval for the kidnapping and added, "All the Hamas leadership has to be seen as culpable." Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon was more blunt. "If, God forbid, they should hurt the soldier, our operations will be far, far worse," Ramon told Israeli Channel 2. The Israeli government said it holds the Palestinian Authority responsible for the fate of the captured Israeli soldier. "The government of Israel would not yield to any blackmail by the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas government led by murderous terror organizations," a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said. "We will not hold any negotiations over release of prisoners. The Palestinian Authority carries full responsibility for the safety of Gilad Shalit." Syria would also be held accountable for Shalit's safety, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said, because Hamas militants involved in the abduction are based in Damascus, according to The Associated Press. "I suggest that [Syrian President] Bashar Assad, who is trying to operate with his eyes shut tight, open his eyes, because he is responsible," AP quoted Peretz as saying. The situation escalated Monday when the three militant groups faxed their ultimatum to news agencies. "We are giving the Zionist enemy until tomorrow, July 4, at 6 a.m. [11 p.m. ET Monday]. If they do not answer our humanitarian demands, the enemy will be responsible for all future consequences," the statement said. The statement did not specify what the consequences would be if the deadline passed without action. It was released by the military wing of the ruling Hamas party; the Popular Resistance Committees; and the Army of Islam. "The Israeli position is that we are not surrendering to blackmail and or any ultimatum," said Israeli Army Chief of Staff Dan Halutz after he visited the family of the captured soldier. Hamad appealed for negotiations late Monday, according to AP. "Since the kidnapping of the Israeli soldier, we have called for the need to protect his life and solve the problem through calm diplomatic channels," AP quoted the senior member of the Hamas political wing as saying. |
| Posted by:Oztralian |
| #11 It's dawns early light over there! How about some news!!! Dang. |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-07-03 23:26 |
| #10 This is all I can find (from Jerusalem Post) Jul. 4, 2006 1:34 Palestinians: IAF gunship fires at Gaza university An IAF helicopter fired a missile at the Islamic University in Gaza City late Monday night, Palestinian sources reported. No one was wounded in the operation. This is the second time in the past week that the IDF attacked the Hamas-affiliated university link tap, tap, tap. Comeone...what if anything is happening. It's one o'clock and all is ...???? |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-07-03 23:25 |
| #9 I've been trying to log onto Debkafile, but everytime I do I get kicked out of explorer. Sigh. I hate suspense. |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-07-03 23:08 |
| #8 OK, it's 2300 EST, pass the popcorn and light up the paloswine news! |
| Posted by: Inspector Clueso 2006-07-03 23:01 |
| #7 God help me, but just felt a real tinge of nerves over this and then looked at the clock and noticed it was 6 minutes till. I wonder if they are getting ready to launch an attack. |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-07-03 22:57 |
| #6 Heh - I'm going to count to three... 1 2 2.5.... Israel should act this time. Just like a parent who abuses this phrase, so will it be for Israel if they make this just another dud that fizzels. They need to act now while they have the moral authority they need to do so. Once the propagandists get on it, their authority will not only go down for this event but it will have an impact on all future events. I suspect we may get some real fireworks this year. I guess this is how it goes in world wars, they are like Donner Parties - so many small events leading up to them, handled properly could have prevented the tragedy but at some point, you've gone so far they no matter which way you go tragedy cannot be avoided. |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-07-03 22:41 |
| #5 Just to refresh myself, I spent a few minutes on Google.Earth tonight. If I were a rich man, I'd invest in a EU company that sold life-jackets to the Paleos ... |
| Posted by: Beau 2006-07-03 21:11 |
| #4 I think their gunnies f*ked up and killed him the first day, and now they are playing for time : UN invention on their side by Kofi. If they admit he has been dead the whole time, the Israelis would feel justified in dropping a major hammer on Gaza and killing anything/anyone Hamas-related. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2006-07-03 21:02 |
| #3 I pray it isn't true but I'm thinking the soldier is long dead and the palios are just trying to get either some prisoners released (after which they will say he was shot 'trying to escape') or a excuse for 'executing' him (which the EU, Russia, etc... are frothing-at-the-mouth to accept). |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2006-07-03 20:14 |
| #2 8PM PDT; 11 PM EDT - "Gentlemen, start your engines" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-07-03 19:32 |
| #1 Game on. And the Pals are going to be very, very sorry. |
| Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 2006-07-03 19:29 |