MIDDLE EAST: Israel imposes siege on Gaza in a bid to release the kidnapped soldier.

Record ID: 398104

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Israel imposes siege on Gaza in a bid to release the kidnapped soldier.
  • Date: 27th June 2006
  • Summary: SOLDIER SITTING ON EDGE OF VEHICLE SOLDIER SMOKING
  • Embargoed: 12th July 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA87AAXV2P8E4SUHT1EOKZOPYL
  • Story Text: Israeli tanks and troops massed near Gaza on Tuesday (June 27) for a threatened offensive against Palestinian militants as the government said it would target top Hamas leaders if an abducted soldier was not freed.
    At Nizmit Hill, just across from northern Gaza, Israeli's military build-up gathered steam. more than a 100 Israeli tanks and armoured personnel carriers faced the coastal strip after more tanks arrived overnight.
    Officials have not said when troops might go in.
    Israeli media said the government had also approved a contingency plan to cut food, water and gas supplies to the Gaza Strip if the 19-year-old soldier was not freed.
    The United States urged Israel to give diplomacy a chance to win the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was seized on Sunday (June 25) by militants who also killed two soldiers in a raid on an Israeli military border post.
    Residents of Jerusalem expressed their concerns over the fate of Gilad Shalit, the abducted soldier, and offered various ways of reaction to Israel's government.
    "Israel has to be strong, they can't give in to immediate demands, but they also have to consider the family so it's a very delicate balance," said Will king, a resident of the city as he was drinking his morning coffee.
    "Certainly not kill more people, certainly not, it is not an easy thing, but you can't kill to save. You have to save that - I don't know how, hope it will be right," Clair Serasi toold Reuters.
    Arleen Servinski, another resident of Jerusalem told Reuters that Israel should negotiate but not to release prisoners in Israeli jails.
    "I don't think that Israeli should release the prisoners from Israeli jails in order for the Palestinians to release the soldier who was abducted," Servinski, a resident of Jerusalem told Reuters.
    Israel said leaders of the ruling Hamas movement could become assassination targets, including the group's supreme leader Khaled Meshaal who lives in exile in Damascus.
    Hamas's armed wing has said it carried out Sunday's attack with other factions but has not said it was holding Shalit.
    Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas's armed wing, warned Israel of a "painful" response if its forces re-invaded.
    Hamas's armed wing, along with the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) and the Islamic Army on Monday said Israel would not get information about the soldier unless it freed all jailed Palestinian women and youths. Israel rejected the demand.
    Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has held Hamas, which took office in March, and the Palestinian Authority chaired by moderate President Mahmoud Abbas responsible for Sunday's assault.
    "Military Statement 1", issued by the three militant groups, did not confirm directly they were holding Shalit, a tank gunner, nor give details of his condition.
    Israeli and Palestinian officials said about 100 Palestinian women and 300 youths were in Israeli jails for alleged security offences.
    In a separate statement, the PRC said on Monday it had kidnapped a Jewish settler in the occupied West Bank. It produced no evidence to substantiate the claim.
    The Israeli army said it was unaware of the abduction.
    Militant groups said Sunday's raid was in response to the killing of 14 Palestinian civilians in Israeli air strikes in Gaza which ISrael says was aimed towords militants behind cross-border rocket attacks.
    Israeli defence commentators in Israel said Olmert could not rush into Gaza for fear militants would kill the soldier, but waiting too long would make his government appear weak.
    Israel completed a withdrawal of Jewish settlers and soldiers last September after 38 years of occupation.
    In northern Gaza, Palestinians blocked roads with dirt and barbed wire. Militants wielding automatic rifles and anti-tank rockets patrolled the streets as tensions hit their highest along the frontier since Israel quit Gaza nearly a year ago.
    "We warn the Zionist enemy not to commit any foolish acts in the Gaza Strip and we assure you that Zionist enemies plan to invade and any crimes will be met with fierce retaliation. The Zionist enemy should bear responsible for anything that comes out of this. It will not be easy for them in Gaza and the Zionist enemy will regret the moment they thought of invading the Gaza Strip," said a masked militant.
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