Posted on 01/16/2008 4:02:31 PM PST by Nachum
(IsraelNN.com) Senior Hamas terrorists threatened Israel Wednesday night to cut off negotiations over kidnapped IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit if the IDF did not stop its counter-terrorism operations in Gaza.
Israel intensified retaliation air strikes Tuesday and Wednesday against terrorists in response to escalated Kassam rocket attacks on the western Negev. Terror cells firing rockets and mortar shells were the primary targets.
Hamas spokesman Ismail El-Muzeini said in an interview on Channel 1 that if the expanded IDF military operations continued, “There is no doubt that it will affect the case of the soldier Gilad Shalit. It is very possible that we will cut off all channels of dialogue on the matter and the issue could become very similar to the case of [missing IAF navigator Ron] Arad.” The senior Hamas official is in charge of matters pertaining to Shalit.
Ron Arad was captured by terrorists after his aircraft was shot down over southern Lebanon in 1986. His fate is unknown.
Damascus-based Hamas politburo chief and arch-terrorist Khaled Mashaal echoed the warning at a news conference in the Syrian capital. “What you are doing will deny you any plan you are gambling on: No exchange for Gilad Shalit and no truce,” he said.
Negotiations mediated by Egyptian officials on a prisoner swap deal for Shalit, who was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in June 2006, have been continuing off and on for more than a year. Recently there were hints of an impending deal, but as has happened several times before, the reports petered out.
IDF forces killed 15 terrorists and several civilians in Gaza on Tuesday. One of the dead terrorists was the son of Hamas commander and former PA “Foreign Minister” Mahmoud Zahar.
Israeli security officials emphasized that Hussam Zahar’s death was not the result of a targeted assassination, but rather came in an exchange of gunfire as he and other terrorists tried to block a Golani Brigade unit from entering neighborhoods in a counter-terrorism sweep in Gaza City.
Mashaal blamed U.S. President George W. Bush and the government of PA Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas for the clashes, accusing Bush of giving Israel a “green light” to expand operations in Gaza, and slamming Abbas for continuing “futile negotiations” with Israel.
The Damascus-based Hamas leader also said the intensified IDF activity was an attempt by the Olmert government to deflect the public’s attention away from the coalition crisis raised by Yisrael Beiteinu’s withdrawal from the government. “Lieberman has left the government and Shas is also considering doing so, and the Palestinians are paying the price,” he said.
To cut off negotiations one has to actually have been negotiating and last I heard Hamas said there was nothing to discuss.
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NEGATIVE!...quadruple and quintiple them.
WTF are Condi and George thinking?
Agreed, they beheaded him within hours.
The entire Gaza Strip should be reduced to rubble and turned into a luxury resort area for Israeli’s.
THIS IS THEIR ELECTED GOVERNMENT, PRESIDENT BUSH. THEY ARE HOLDING IDF SOLDIERS HOSTAGE AND EVERYONE IS ACTING LIKE THEY ARE A CIVILIZED GROUP TO NEGOTIATE PEACE WITH. THIS IS GARBAGE.
He was probably tortured and then murdered! Hamas must die! D.I.N.
On this issue, I yearn for the days of Nixon and Golda. Back then, Israel could attacks these murderers and the US stood by them. Nixon made some very, very serious blunders, but he never got into this “two state solution” crap, and he let Israel do what Israel had to do in dealing with things in a bad neighborhood - at least when it came to Amalekstinian terrorism. I don’t recall when I was 14 through 17 (1969-72) ever hearing Nixon calling for Israel to “exercise restraint”.
For every rocket over the fence, one 155 mm shell into the Gaza infra structure with no regard for collateral damage.
Actually, Golda started this "restraint" crap. She had intel that the attack would occur on Yom Kippur, she went ahead and let it happen in order to get "world opinion" on Israel's side, which didn't happen.
There were a lot of useless casualties in '73. I was living in Israel then.
Ah, thanks for reminding me. I was thinking of a couple of years earlier, when there wasn’t all the “restraint” hooie. If I recall from some things I’ve read over the years, Kissinger (presumably with Nixon’s knowledge) pressured her not to pre-empt with the reasoning that it would keep “world opinion” from turning against Israel. Fat lot of good it did. The 1969-72 era seemed to be different, if I remember correctly. At least then Israel seemed to strike far more quickly against terrorist attacks, and the White House/Defartment of State didn’t constantly bleat “Israel must show restraint.”
There were many useless casualties in ‘73; a real tragedy.
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