|
Gaza soldier deadline passes
04/07/2006 07:43 - (SA)
Gaza City - Militants holding an Israeli soldier said on Tuesday they would give no further information about the soldier because Israel ignored a 24-hour deadline to release Palestinian prisoners, while Israel insisted it would not negotiate with the militants.
Abu Muthana, a spokesperson for the Army of Islam, would not say whether the soldier is dead or alive after the 24-hour ultimatum passed.
"We will not give any information that will give the occupation good news or reassurance," he told The Associated Press.
Killing 'against Islamic values'
Muthana however told AFP they did not want to kill the serviceman despite the expiry of their ultimatum to Israel.
"Some people thought that the groups that carried out the operation will kill him but our Islamic values tell us that prisoners should be respected and not killed," he was quoted as saying.
The Army of Islam was unheard of before the soldier was captured on June 25. Two other groups - the Hamas military wing and the Popular Resistance Committees - have taken responsibility for the abduction.
A day earlier, the militants indicated they might kill the captured soldier, corporal Gilad Shalit, 19. if their demands were not met.
'Israel will not give in to terrorists'
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected any negotiations with the militants, and the army pressed ahead with its Gaza offensive.
Interviewed on Israel Radio after the deadline expired, cabinet minister Roni Bar-On, who is close to Olmert, said, "Israel will not give in to terrorists and will not give in to extortion".
Mixed messages from Hamas
Hamas sent out mixed messages late on Monday. In Gaza, government spokesperson Ghazi Hamad expressed hope for a diplomatic solution.
But Osama Hamdan, one of the most senior members of the exiled Hamas leadership, ruled out a compromise and threatened to abduct more Israelis.
"If this operation does not lead to the release of prisoners now, let's postpone talk ... and we will continue resistance. Other (Israelis) might be taken prisoner," Hamdan, Hamas' representative in Lebanon, told Al Manar television.
Militants arrested
In the West Bank city of Ramallah early on Tuesday, Israeli forces arrested three militants said to be involved in the abduction and killing of an 18-year-old Israeli settler last week. The military said a fourth was arrested earlier.
The kidnapping of the settler, Eliahu Asheri, added tension to the situation surrounding the capture of the soldier. Asheri's body was found on Thursday near Ramallah.
Airstrikes on Gaza
In the hours before the deadline expired, Israel kept up its pressure on Hamas with airstrikes.
Early on Tuesday, Israeli aircraft hit the student council building at the Islamic University in Gaza City, witnesses said, badly damaging it. No one was hurt. The military said it hit a "compound used by terror groups for instructing and directing terrorists."
The military said it also hit another Hamas facility in northern Gaza.
With additional reporting from AFP
- AP
|
News
