Israel threatens military action

2006-06-26 14:56

Jerusalem - With Israel massing troops along the border with the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday said he has authorised a "broad and ongoing" operation against Palestinian militants following the abduction of an Israeli soldier.

Olmert issued the threat as Israeli and Palestinian officials furiously worked diplomatic channels to gain the release of corporal Gilad Shalit, a dual French-Israeli citizen who was seized in a cross-border raid on Sunday.

Speaking to a tourism conference in Jerusalem, Olmert said Israel's patience was wearing thin and that he held the entire Palestinian leadership responsible for Shalit's safety.

"I gave the orders to our military commanders to prepare the army for a broad and ongoing military operation to strike the terrorist leaders and all those involved," he said.

"It should be clear. There will be immunity for no one."

Major flare-up of violence feared

Militants affiliated with the ruling Hamas party and tiny allied factions abducted Shalit early on Sunday after tunnelling into Israel and attacking a military post. Two other soldiers were killed, and three militants died in an ensuing shootout.

The attack was the first successful infiltration by militants since Israel withdrew from Gaza last September and threatened to plunge the region into a major flare-up of violence.

Soldier alive

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was working intensely with Egyptian mediators to locate the soldier, officials said, while a spokesperson for the rival Hamas-led Palestinian government said he had information Shalit was alive and urged his captors to keep him safe.

It was not clear who was holding him, where he was being held or what his captors wanted. In the past, seized soldiers have been used as bargaining chips for the release of Palestinian prisoners Israel holds.

Palestinian Authority blamed for spiralling violence

Despite Abbas' ongoing efforts to pressure his Hamas rivals into moderation, Olmert said he blamed the entire Palestinian leadership, including the president, responsible for the spiralling violence.

"It should be clear that we see the Palestinian Authority on all its levels, from the chairman on downward, as the responsible element for this operation and all that happens from it," Olmert said, referring to Abbas.

Earlier Monday, Israel massed special units, tanks and infantry troops along the border with Gaza.

Palestinian lawmaker Saeb Erekat, a close aide to Abbas, called for restraint "at a time when President Abbas is exerting maximum efforts in order to acquire the release of the soldier, alive and unharmed".

The tensions have raised the possibility that Israel could renew its policy of assassinating Hamas political leaders, a practice Israel halted after a February 2005 ceasefire.

Family misses soldier

Shalit's family broke its silence on Monday to plead with his captors to treat him humanely and to remember he has a loving family who misses him dearly.

Noam Shalit described his son as a quiet, helpful boy who followed his older brother into the military's armoured corps.

"The only thing we have left right now is hope, nothing more," he said.

In Gaza City, dozens of relatives of the 8 000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons urged militants to hold Shalit until Israel agrees to a large-scale release of jailed Palestinians.

"Kidnap a soldiers and free 100 in return," the crowd said.

- AP