Posted on 06/28/2006 10:09:49 AM PDT by george76
Israel turned up the pressure on Palestinian militants to release a captive soldier Wednesday, sending its warplanes to bomb a Hamas training camp after knocking out electricity and water supplies for most of the 1.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas-led Palestinian government called for a prisoner swap with Israel, saying the Gaza offensive would not secure the soldier's release.
Hamas-affiliated militants holding the hostage previously made that demand, but this was the first time the government did.
Tensions escalated Wednesday evening as the military fired artillery near Gaza City - the first time Israel has targeted that area during the offensive.
It was Israel's first ground offensive since pulling its soldiers and settlers out of Gaza last summer.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel would not balk at "extreme action" to bring Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, home but did not intend to reoccupy Gaza.
(Excerpt) Read more at story.news.ask.com ...
The whole of Arabia is afflicted with a shame-honor dynamic which renders them occasionally incapable of sane decision making. Note, I said "occasionally." I don't know how this will play out, but if Israel has "diversity training," and other such Orwellian nonsense, the outcome may be unappealing.
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