thefarmrecruit
1st July 2006, 03:35
Shalit's kidnappers demand release of 1,000 prisoners
By HAVIV RETTIG, YAAKOV KATZ AND JPOST.COM STAFF
"The kidnappers of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit issued a new set of demands in the early hours of Saturday morning, calling on Israel to halt its offensive in Gaza and ordering the release of 1,000 prisoners. Nowhere do the demands explicitly say that Shalit would be returned in exchange for the requested actions.
Less than an hour earlier, the Israeli Air Force hit three main roads in central Gaza. The army said that the purpose of the strike was to make movement more difficult for the kidnappers of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit and to crack down on Kassam rocket launchers.
Earlier Friday, an Israeli Air Force missile struck a car traveling in Gaza City, causing an enormous explosion and, according to Israel Radio, wounding two people in the vicinity.FONT=arial]
Four men, suspected of being responsible for launching Kassam rockets at Israel, were apparently in the car.
The missile did not directly hit the vehicle, but exploded next to it, and the four people inside ran out, witnesses said, identifying the occupants as members of the violent Islamic Jihad group.
According to Palestinian sources three of the men in the car were wounded, one seriously.
The IDF confirmed that it had carried out a missile strike in the area, while an IDF spokesman said the army would continue to target Palestinian terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip in order to put an end to Kassam rocket attacks from there.
IDF activity in the Gaza Strip continued Friday, with Navy and ground artillery shelling targets in both the northern and southern parts of the Strip.
The shelling of the southern regions were done out of increased concern that the Palestinians were preparing to transport kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit to a new location. The army assessed that he was being held in southern Gaza.
The targets in the north were Kassam rocket launch sites. Since Thursday night, Palestinians have fired seven rockets into Israel in the direction of Sderot.
Hours after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert put the brakes on a massive ground incursion into northern Gaza, IAF fighter jets struck close to a dozen targets before dawn Friday hitting the Palestinian Authority Interior Ministry and a Fatah office in Gaza City. Missiles also struck a Hamas training camp on the outskirts of the city.
Other targets hit by missiles included a Kassam rocket production warehouse affiliated with the Fatah-backed Aksa Martyrs' Brigades.
An IAF helicopter also fired upon and critically wounded an Islamic Jihad operative who tried to launch a rocket at Israeli forces. The man, 25-year-old Abdel Rael, later died of his wounds. His death marked the first fatality since the IDF incursion began on Tuesday.
An IDF statement said that the strikes would continue as long as Hamas terrorists refused to release Shalit, taken hostage on Sunday during a terror attack on his IDF outpost near the Kerem Shalom crossing.
IDF artillery cannons also pounded Kassam launch sites overnight Friday. Since the beginning of the current Gaza campaign, called "Operation Summer Rains," the IDF has fired over 400 artillery shells.
The IDF said the attack on Interior Minister Said Siyam's offices in Gaza City was caused by its being used as "a meeting place to plan and direct terror activity."
Cpt. Jacob Dallal of the IDF Spokesperson's Unit told The Jerusalem Post that the operation's purpose was simple: "To gain the release of Cpl. Gilad Shalit."
According to Dallal, the strikes would be "ongoing," though the operation was being done "in a calibrated, studied fashion," the IDF "has many means at our disposal" for escalating the attacks.
We hope that this will work and that he will be freed as soon as possible," Dallal concluded.
Also early Friday, IDF troops in southern Gaza noticed several Palestinians approaching an IDF position with an anti-tank rocket launcher. Troops fired at the cell, causing it to flee.
According to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, two of the attackers were believed to be wounded, but all managed to escape.
The details of the incident were still being investigated."
Well, first off, I personally think the whole ordeal is more than just Hamas taking a soldier or Israel invading Palistine for just one solider.
But for the sake of arugement. 1000:1, seems like a un-equal ratio, or maybe I forgot how to do 3rd grade math...
By HAVIV RETTIG, YAAKOV KATZ AND JPOST.COM STAFF
"The kidnappers of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit issued a new set of demands in the early hours of Saturday morning, calling on Israel to halt its offensive in Gaza and ordering the release of 1,000 prisoners. Nowhere do the demands explicitly say that Shalit would be returned in exchange for the requested actions.
Less than an hour earlier, the Israeli Air Force hit three main roads in central Gaza. The army said that the purpose of the strike was to make movement more difficult for the kidnappers of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit and to crack down on Kassam rocket launchers.
Earlier Friday, an Israeli Air Force missile struck a car traveling in Gaza City, causing an enormous explosion and, according to Israel Radio, wounding two people in the vicinity.FONT=arial]
Four men, suspected of being responsible for launching Kassam rockets at Israel, were apparently in the car.
The missile did not directly hit the vehicle, but exploded next to it, and the four people inside ran out, witnesses said, identifying the occupants as members of the violent Islamic Jihad group.
According to Palestinian sources three of the men in the car were wounded, one seriously.
The IDF confirmed that it had carried out a missile strike in the area, while an IDF spokesman said the army would continue to target Palestinian terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip in order to put an end to Kassam rocket attacks from there.
IDF activity in the Gaza Strip continued Friday, with Navy and ground artillery shelling targets in both the northern and southern parts of the Strip.
The shelling of the southern regions were done out of increased concern that the Palestinians were preparing to transport kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit to a new location. The army assessed that he was being held in southern Gaza.
The targets in the north were Kassam rocket launch sites. Since Thursday night, Palestinians have fired seven rockets into Israel in the direction of Sderot.
Hours after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert put the brakes on a massive ground incursion into northern Gaza, IAF fighter jets struck close to a dozen targets before dawn Friday hitting the Palestinian Authority Interior Ministry and a Fatah office in Gaza City. Missiles also struck a Hamas training camp on the outskirts of the city.
Other targets hit by missiles included a Kassam rocket production warehouse affiliated with the Fatah-backed Aksa Martyrs' Brigades.
An IAF helicopter also fired upon and critically wounded an Islamic Jihad operative who tried to launch a rocket at Israeli forces. The man, 25-year-old Abdel Rael, later died of his wounds. His death marked the first fatality since the IDF incursion began on Tuesday.
An IDF statement said that the strikes would continue as long as Hamas terrorists refused to release Shalit, taken hostage on Sunday during a terror attack on his IDF outpost near the Kerem Shalom crossing.
IDF artillery cannons also pounded Kassam launch sites overnight Friday. Since the beginning of the current Gaza campaign, called "Operation Summer Rains," the IDF has fired over 400 artillery shells.
The IDF said the attack on Interior Minister Said Siyam's offices in Gaza City was caused by its being used as "a meeting place to plan and direct terror activity."
Cpt. Jacob Dallal of the IDF Spokesperson's Unit told The Jerusalem Post that the operation's purpose was simple: "To gain the release of Cpl. Gilad Shalit."
According to Dallal, the strikes would be "ongoing," though the operation was being done "in a calibrated, studied fashion," the IDF "has many means at our disposal" for escalating the attacks.
We hope that this will work and that he will be freed as soon as possible," Dallal concluded.
Also early Friday, IDF troops in southern Gaza noticed several Palestinians approaching an IDF position with an anti-tank rocket launcher. Troops fired at the cell, causing it to flee.
According to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, two of the attackers were believed to be wounded, but all managed to escape.
The details of the incident were still being investigated."
Well, first off, I personally think the whole ordeal is more than just Hamas taking a soldier or Israel invading Palistine for just one solider.
But for the sake of arugement. 1000:1, seems like a un-equal ratio, or maybe I forgot how to do 3rd grade math...