Deadline passes for captured Israeli soldier in Gaza

GAZA (Reuters) - A deadline set by Palestinian militants for Israel to free hundreds of prisoners in exchange for a captured soldier expired on Tuesday with the Jewish state rejecting any swap.

Three factions in the Gaza Strip, among them the armed wing of the governing Hamas Islamist group, had given Israel until 6 a.m. -- threatening that it should respond by then if it valued the life of the captured soldier.

No information was immediately available on the fate of 19-year-old Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was captured in a raid across the border from Gaza on June 25, after the deadline passed.

Refusing to discuss a prisoner exchange, Israel has launched its first offensive in the Gaza Strip since quitting the territory last summer and massed troops and armor for a possible expansion of the ground operation.

Palestinian security sources said Israel had increased the number of armored vehicles on the northern edge of the strip.

Overnight, an Israeli air strike in northern Gaza killed one militant and wounded two others. The army said they were planting bombs. In Gaza City, an Israeli missile hit the Islamic University, a Hamas stronghold. The army said it had attacked a building used by Hamas to plan attacks.

Israel has also hinted that it could assassinate leaders of Hamas, whose government is already under an international aid embargo, if Shalit is not freed.

"Woe betide them if they dare harm Gilad Shalit," Justice Minister Haim Ramon told Israeli television on Monday

"Your blood is not redder than your fellow man's." The Rabbis in Babylonia two millenia ago, presented with a case in which the abductors of a Jew threatened his life unless the Jewish community gave them what they wanted, said that under no circumstances was any one permitted to allow his life to be forfeited so theirs might be spared. This has been a principle of Jewish jurisprudence down to this day. Human life is sacred and every life is important and no one's life is greater or less than any one's else. Its immoral to abandon a human being to captivity and he must be set free. But under no circumstances must a kidnapping be legitimated because it is first and foremost a crime against the holiness of human being created in G-d's image and secondly a crime against the freedom of a person.

(The Palestinian terrorist regime is the crisis and Israel's fist is the answer.)

The ultimatum set by Palestinian militants holding a kidnapped Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip expired at 6 A.M. Tuesday.

Militants holding Corporal Gilad Shalit demanded Israel release some 1,000 jailed Palestinians by daybreak but failed to say what measures they would take if their demands were not met.

"Discussion is closed," said Abu al-Muthana, spokesman for the Islamic Army in the Gaza Strip. "Whether he will be killed or not killed, we will not disclose any information about the fate of the soldier."

There was no immediate comment from the other two groups that were involved in kidnapping Shalit on June 25.

The Islamic Army is the least well known of the groups. The others are the armed wing of the governing Hamas Islamist group and the Popular Resistance Committees.

Abu al-Muthana said he expected a joint statement later on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the London-based Arabic newspaper, Al Hayat, reported Israel was in the process of negotiating a deal with Gaza militants in return for Shalit's safe return, Israel Radio reported.

The report contradicted earlier statements made by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz who vowed not to give in to 'extortion.'

Hours before the ultimatum expired, Israel Air Force planes continued to strike targets in the Gaza Strip, launching missiles at an Islamic University building in Gaza City.

Black smoke rose from the building, set on fire in the attack. There was no immediate word of casualties.

The University is considered a Hamas stronghold. The building, where the Hamas-dominated student council meets, was heavily damaged.

On Monday, Olmert ruled out any possibility of dialogue with Shalit's captors based on their demands to release prisoners.

"There will be no negotiations to release prisoners," the Prime Minister's Bureau said in a statement. "The government of Israel will not give in to extortion by the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas government, which are headed by murderous terror organizations. The Palestinian Authority bears full responsibility for the welfare of Gilad Shalit and for returning him to Israel in good condition."

More here:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/733789.html

In view of the enemy's obstinance in toppling all humanitarian values and insistence on military measures and continued aggression, we are posing an ultimatum to the Zionist enemy, by Tuesday at 6 A.M., July 4. ...And afterward, the enemy will bear full responsibility for the future consequences."

In the interest of History, Israel should give them 6 hours to rethink their decision and tell them that they will bear full responsibility for the consequences of their own obstinance.
They should inform them that any missile fired and any bomb detonated will greatly reduce the number of their leadership... including any and all real estate where they are perceived to be hiding until such time that they they are destroyed.

Ah, so this is what you're talking about:

"There has been no confirmation from other sources of a report by the London-based Arabic newspaper Al Hayat that there's a deal for the release captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, despite Israel's declared refusal to negotiate with the terrorists who have been holding him since June 25th."

You trust Al Hayat as a source?

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.