Free Republic

Palestinian militant groups that claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack on an Israel Defense Forces post near Gaza said Monday that they would provide information on the soldier kidnapped in the raid in return for certain demands. The attack was claimed by the Hamas military wing, the Popular Resistance Committees and a hitherto unknown group calling itself the Army of Islam. Corporal Gilad Shalit was abducted in the pre-dawn attack on his tank, in which two of the members of his four-strong crew were killed and the third seriously wounded. A pamphlet sent to local Gaza media outlets Monday and signed...

India To Launch Israeli Spy Sat Move Highlights Improving Relationship By BARBARA OPALL-ROME, TEL AVIV And K.S. JAYARAMAN, NEW DELHI November 14, 2005 In a controversial break from a longstanding military space policy of strategic self-reliance, Israel has decided to launch its next spy satellite aboard India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rather than its own indigenous Shavit rocket. Officials here say Israel’s Ministry of Defense and state-owned satellite producer Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) are wrapping up the political and contractual agreements with their Indian counterparts for the planned October 2006 launch of TechSAR, Israel’s first synthetic aperture radar imaging...