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Israel will work to ensure the Hamas-led government falls if a soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants is not released alive, a high-ranking security official said.
"We will make sure that the Hamas government ceases to operate if the kidnapped soldier is not returned to us alive," the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Yuval Diskin, the head of Israel's Shin Beth homeland security agency, made the threat in talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas late Sunday, the source said.
The Popular Resistance Committees, an armed Palestinian group, claimed Monday in a telephone call to AFP that it was holding the soldier, saying he was alive.
"We are holding the soldier. He is alive and in good health," said the representative of the group, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He gave no indications as to the whereabouts or the missing soldier, 20-year-old Gilad Shavit, who was abducted during a Palestinian attack on an army border post close to the Gaza Strip on Sunday that left two Israeli soldiers and two militants dead.
The Popular Resistance Committees, together with the armed wing of the govering Hamas movement and the previously unknown Army of Islam claimed joint responsibility for the attack.
Israel has vowed to avenge any harm done to the soldier who went missing after militants tunneled into Israel and launched the brazen attack, firing grenades and rockets at an army border post near southern Gaza.
It was the largest attack in the volatile border area since Israel pulled troops and settlers out of the impoverished coastal strip last summer, ending a 38-year presence.
Defence Minister Amir Peretz vowed Sunday a strong Israeli retaliation if the missing soldier were not released unharmed.
"We will take revenge against anyone who injures the soldier, including their leaders," Peretz told reporters.
The security cabinet later approved a series of reprisal operations against the Gaza Strip but agreed to put them off until the missing soldier had been brought home, the privately run Channel 10 television reported.
Shavit's bloodstained bulletproof was found not far from the scene of the attack and thousands of Israelis flocked to Jerusalem's Western Wall Sunday evening to pray for his safe return home.
In a joint statement, the militant groups said the dawn assault was revenge for the 22 civilians killed in an alleged Israeli shelling and botched air strikes since the start of June.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert blamed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and the Hamas-led Palestinian government for the attack.
Israel tanks, troops and Apache combat helicopters stormed into southern Gaza in response to search for the missing soldier and investigate the tunnel used by the attackers.
Public radio reported that further forces were massing on the border.
"This attack was carried out and spearheaded by senior members of the Hamas and authorized by the party's leadership," an army spokesman told AFP.
"The IDF (Israel Defence Force) holds the Palestinian Authority and democratically elected Hamas government responsible for the attack and the fate of the missing soldier."
The deputy prime minister of the Hamas government Nasseredine al-Shaer, demanded the immediate release of the soldier.
"I demand that this Israel soldier be freed immediately," Shaer told a news conference in the West Bank political capital of Ramallah.
But Shaer's call for the release of a soldier believed held by militants loyal to his own movement drew condemnation from Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Danny Gillerman.
"Hamas has once again proved that it is the worst sort of terrorist organization," Gillerman told AFP in Jerusalem.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni urged the moderate Palestinian Authority president to act swiftly to release the soldier, by force if necessary.
"This is an opportunity for Abu Mazen (Abbas) to prove how serious his intentions are. Israel expects him to act immediately to return the kidnapped soldier to Israel and he has the necessary military means to do so," she said.
Abbas, who was locked in talks with Hamas aimed at ending deadly political feuding between the Islamic militant group and his mainstream Fatah faction, condemned the attack.
They are ready to enter Gaza:theHawk said:The Isrealis don't bullshit alot. This is how you deal with terrorists....
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/06/26/060626081817.kfhkbz2g.html
Olmert says army ready for major Gaza operation
By Nidal al-MughrabiMon Jun 26, 9:21 AM ET
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday he had put the army on standby for a major offensive against Palestinian militants in Gaza as officials tried to secure the release of a kidnapped soldier.
Olmert warned of a "comprehensive and protracted operation" after a raid into Israel on Sunday by militants including members of the ruling Hamas movement. The gunmen killed two soldiers and carried off a third. Two attackers were killed.
Israel has vowed reprisals that could include the re-invasion of Gaza, a coastal territory it quit last year after 38 years of occupation, or the assassination of Hamas leaders.
Troops and armor have been massing on Gaza's borders.
"Let it be clear: We will reach everyone, no matter where they are, and they know it," Olmert said in a speech in Jerusalem. "There will not be immunity for anyone."
Top security officials are expected to meet again on Tuesday -- a deadline set by Olmert's inner cabinet -- to discuss the military options if Corporal Gilad Shalit, 19, a conscript tank gunner, remains in captivity.
"The coming hours are critical," Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said at a meeting with some 60 foreign ambassadors.
Palestinian security officials said there were negotiations with a group of gunmen that claimed responsibility for the border raid, although they have not confirmed holding Shalit.
"We are continuing our efforts to release the kidnapped soldier," one mediator said on condition of anonymity. "As of now, we have been told that the soldier is fine."
Olmert held both Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas responsible for the raid, dashing any chance Israel could revive peacemaking with the moderate leader and circumvent the hardline Palestinian government with which he shares power.
"We hold Abu Mazen (Abbas) responsible. He holds ultimate responsibility for what goes on," Justice Minister Haim Ramon told Israel Radio.
Hamas dismissed Olmert's tough talk.
"Such threats do not frighten us. We warn against enlarging the Israeli escalation because it will lead to more reactions by Palestinian parties," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.
SWAP RULED OUT
Egyptian emissaries were helping efforts to defuse the crisis, which has called into question Olmert's plan to withdraw unilaterally from parts of the West Bank, the other territory the Palestinians want as part of a state.
Hamas and other militant groups spearheading a more than 5-year-old Palestinian revolt have said in the past they would kidnap Israelis to try to gain the release of thousands of comrades imprisoned in the Jewish state.
Israeli officials ruled out any such swap for Shalit.
"We are dealing with bringing Gilad home. We have no intention of negotiating with Hamas on a prisoner exchange," Ramon said, adding that Israel also believed the soldier was alive but may have been wounded.
Under pressure from Israel's rightist opposition parties opposed to ceding occupied land to the Palestinians, Olmert has pursued tough action against Gaza militants despite an outcry over the killing of 14 bystanders in recent Israeli air strikes.
Israeli officials have hinted that should Shalit remain captive, there could be an aerial blitz on Gaza targeting both civilian infrastructure and Hamas leaders including Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected the demand.
"The question of releasing prisoners is not on the agenda of the Israeli government at all," he said in a speech in Jerusalem after the statement was released.
"The time is approaching for a comprehensive, sharp and severe Israeli operation. We will not wait forever," he said. "We will not become a target of Hamas-terrorist blackmail."
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2120408
www.cnn.comNEWS ALERT >>The Associated Press reports Palestinian negotiators say rival Fatah and Hamas factions have agreed on a plan calling for implicit recognition of Israel. CNN working to confirm.
Implicit means 'not really.' They are snakes.theHawk said:
GAZA CITY (AP) -- The rival Hamas and Fatah movements on Tuesday completed an agreement over a plan that implicitly recognizes Israel, ending weeks of acrimonious negotiations, a top official said.
"We have an agreement over the document," said Ibrahim Abu Najah, coordination of the "national dialogue" over the proposal.
Salah Zeidan, another negotiator, said preparations were being made for a formal signing ceremony. "All political groups are prepared for a mutual cease-fire with Israel," he said.
President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah has been trying to coax his Hamas rivals into endorsing the document, which was formulated by senior Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
He has endorsed the plan as a way to end crippling economic sanctions against the Hamas-led Palestinian government and pave the way to reopening peace talks.
However, the deal was overshadowed by a crisis over the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier and opposition to the deal voiced by Islamic Jihad, a small militant group that has carried out numerous attacks against Israel.
"In today's meeting, we announced we reject some of the articles of this document and we have reservations about other articles," said Khaled al-Batch, spokesman for Islamic Jihad.
The plan calls for a Palestinian state alongside Israel, in effect recognizing Israel. It also calls on militants to limit attacks to areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War and calls for formation of a coalition Palestinian government.
Hamas and Fatah have been locked in a bloody power struggle since Hamas won legislative elections in January. Hamas controls the parliament and Cabinet. Abbas, a political moderate, was elected separately last year.
Israel has said the document is an internal Palestinian matter, but said it falls short of international demands that Hamas renounce violence and formally recognize the Jewish state.
With Hamas-linked militants holding a captured Israeli soldier, the Palestinian agreement is even less likely to reduce tensions. Israel has massed troops along its border with Gaza, promising a broad offensive into the area. (Full story)
