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Hamas issues Tuesday evening deadline to Israel

Atul Aneja

We will not entertain blackmail, says Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert

PHOTO: AP

BATTLE READY: Israeli military tanks prepare to advance towards the Gaza Strip from a gathering point near Kibbutz Mefalsim, southern Israel, on Monday.

DUBAI: The three Palestinian militant groups holding an Israeli soldier captive have given Israel a Tuesday evening deadline to meet their demands.

A statement by the military wing of Hamas and two others said Israel would have to face "the consequences," if political prisoners in Israeli jails were not freed.

The statement signed by the Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the Popular Resistance Committees and the Islamic Army said Israel would "bear full responsibility for future consequences" if it failed to meet the Tuesday deadline.

The Israeli Government has said it "will not entertain blackmail."

Bid for solution

Faced with the crisis, Israel has accelerated its efforts to seek a diplomatic breakthrough.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Moscow after meeting his Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni that Moscow was making all efforts to help secure the release of the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Israeli soldiers entered southern Gaza last week, but a full-scale offensive has been avoided so far.

Nevertheless, a small force of Israeli tanks entered northern Gaza on Monday.

Palestinian militants seized Mr. Shalit on June 25 after attacking his tank. Two Israeli soldiers and two of the assailants were killed during the incident.

AFP reports:

Israel, which has massed a force of 5,000 troops on the Gaza border, swiftly rejected the ultimatum, amid official warnings the crisis could drag on for months.

``Israel will not give in to extortion by the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas Government, which are led by murderous terrorist organisations,'' Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said.

Militant killed

On the ground, Israeli troops shot dead a militant from the armed wing of Hamas as forces rolled into the Beit Hanun area of northern Gaza.

The latest salvos in the escalating West Asia crisis followed threats by the armed wing of Hamas — boycotted as a terrorist group by Israel and the West — that it would strike civilians in Israel if the Gaza offensive is not halted.

The international community has issued urgent appeals for restraint to stop the conflict from spreading.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who has been involved in mediation efforts, flew to Saudi Arabia to discuss the crisis with King Abdullah.

The pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat said an Egyptian delegation mediating in the crisis had met Mr. Shalit in Gaza but gave neither a date nor location.

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