Israel, the mid-east, and Russia

[Shammu]

President Exchanges Phone Calls with World Leaders and Officials

 
GAZA - President Mahmoud Abbas exchanged phone calls with world leaders and officials to put them in the image of the situation in the Palestinian territories in light of Israel's military escalation.
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The President phoned the Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi, the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Yemeni President, Ali Abdullah Saleh. He received phone calls from the Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Massimo D'Alema and from the Japanese special envoy in charge of peace in the Middle East, Mr. Tatsuo Arima who conveyed to the President a message from the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Juinchiro Koizumi.
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Yesterday, President Abbas phoned the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Saudi King, Abdullah Al Saud, King Abdullah II of Jordan, the President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Khalifa al Nahyan and the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.
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He also discussed the issue over phone calls with the US Secretary of States Condoleezza Rice, the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, the Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store, the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs Per Stig Moller and the British Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett.

sorry I can't post the link

[Soldier4Christ]

Space Command would not comment on the reason for the security increase.

As if they really needed to.   


We were on a higher alert level than that for many years during the Cold War.

[Shammu]

As if they really needed to.   


We were on a higher alert level than that for many years during the Cold War.

I know brother, I also understand why we are on a higher alert level.  But it doesn't need to be said here, in the open. We never know who may be reading these messages. 

I hope you know what I mean.

[Soldier4Christ]

If one reads the newspapers then they already know the reason.

[Shammu]

If one reads the newspapers then they already know the reason.

You mean this??

NORAD Prepared If North Korea Launches Missile

Rick Sallinger
Reporting

(CBS4) COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. The Bush administration has urged North Korea to abandon its plans to test a long range missile. The Pentagon believes the missile is capable of reaching the United States.

NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command in Colorado would play a big role in both detecting and responding to a missile launch if it ever occurred.

Operators at NORAD, deep inside Cheyenne Mountain, have prepared for years for a missile launch from North Korea.

"We want to make the President make a smart decision, we don't want to start World War III," said Lt. Col. Ed Maitland, NORAD. "So we have to make sure, without a doubt, that this information is accurate."

If a launch should occur, satellites would detect heat and will immediately contact NORAD with a "quick alert."

During a test run, an animation showed the would-be "missile" going into radar coverage where NORAD could predict the impact point. The decision to retaliate is then made by the president.

One option would be to intercept the missile before it reaches North American soil.

"This is a weapon system that is under development," said Colonel Hugh Bell from NORTHCOM. "We have a limited defensive capability and if necessary, we will use that capability to defend the United States."

The U.S. missile defense system is only a few years old, but could be tested if North Korea chooses to act.

NORAD commanders said they've been practicing for such an event since the facility was created about 50 years ago.

NORAD Prepared If North Korea Launches Missile

[Shammu]

Two Hamas operatives killed in further air strikes
By Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies

An Israel Air Force attack helicopter launched a missile before dawn Sunday striking the office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City. Neither Haniyeh nor any of his aides were in the vicinity at the time of the bombing, but the building itself was damaged.

Haniyeh arrived quickly to survey the damage done to his Gaza offices and to condemn the attack.

"This is the policy of the jungle and arrogance," Haniyeh told Reuters, adding that the strike "targeted a symbol of the Palestinian people."

"Nothing will affect our spirit and nothing will affect our steadfastness," said Haniyeh.

Israel Radio reported that the structure burst into flames, and firefighters rushed to the scene shortly after the attack to extinguish the fire.

The attack was similar to Israel's strike against the Palestinian public security minister - who, like Haniyeh, is a member of Hamas - two days earlier.

The strike on Haniyeh's office indicates a desire by Israel to heighten pressure on Hamas in order to yield the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit.

Also before dawn Sunday, the IAF struck the headquarters of a Palestinian Authority security organization founded by Hamas in Gaza, killing one of the group's operatives and injuring another, Israel Radio reported.

The air force also targeted and killed one Hamas operative in the northern Gaza town of Jabalya, according to Israel Radio.

The IAF attacked several sites late Friday and early Saturday in an earlier round of raids across the Gaza Strip. There were no casualties in any of the incidents, Palestinian medical workers said. (Click here for a map of Gaza)

The attacks were on what the IDF called a "terrorist training facility" in the south of the Strip, and on a building in Gaza City which Palestinians said was used by Hamas militants.

The military confirmed attacking a Hamas facility in Gaza, and in a former Israeli settlement near the town of Rafah near the Egyptian border which was abandoned in last year's Israeli withdrawal and then taken over by Palestinian militants.

Palestinians said the new occupants, activists of the Abu Rish Brigades,
loosely affiliated with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah, recently evacuated the complex, fearing such a strike.

The military could not confirm reports of a missile landing on open ground near the southern town of Khan Yunis.

Also early Saturday, IAF aircraft reportedly hit a Hamas training facility in central Gaza. There were no injuries, but the building was set on fire, Palestinian officials said. The IDF said it was looking into the claim.

Earlier Friday evening, three Palestinians were hurt in an IAF strike in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources said. According to witnesses, an IAF missile was fired and landed adjacent to a vehicle in Gaza City.

The IDF said the strike targeted an Islamic Jihad Qassam rocket-launching cell. Palestinian sources said four militants were in the vehicle at the time of the strike. Three managed to flee.

Peretz to Rice: Pressure Damascus, Hamas over kidnapped soldier
Defense Minister Amir Peretz told U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday that Washington should pressure Syrian President Bashar Assad to influence Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshal to bring about Shalit's release.

Peretz met with senior IDF and Shin Bet security service officials on Saturday evening regarding Shalit.

Shalit was abducted Sunday morning in an attack on his IDF post near the Gaza border. Two IDF soldiers were killed in the attack.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday he was confident an agreement could be reached to end the crisis with Israel and free Shalit.

"Regarding the soldier, we will surely reach an agreement. It is not a dead end. People want an acceptable solution," Abbas told reporters.

"Israel as a matter of principal does not accept reciprocity. Maybe there will be another formula that won't be turned back," Abbas said.

Abbas said he is worried that Israel will proceed with its threats for a more extensive offensive in Gaza.

"I am afraid that what is to come is going to be dangerous because we can't bear another serious aggression and another occupation. What is to come may be more difficult," he said. "What is important is to protect national unity. To protect our people and to avoid bringing danger and disaster to the nation."

A statement released by Abbas' office earlier Saturday said mediation efforts by Egypt and other countries to resolve the crisis over Shalit had yet to bear fruit mainly because it was unclear who in Hamas - the militants or the group's leadership abroad - was authorized to make decisions about Shalit's fate. Abbas later said that the statement should not be attributed to him.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, apparently has no say in the matter, according to a statement from Abbas' office.

cont'd next post

[Shammu]

"The next hours are critical, sensitive and serious. And though the efforts are still ongoing, we have not reached an acceptable solution until now," Abbas' office said in a separate statement.

"After a week of continuous and long contacts with all parties, Palestinian, Arab, international and particularly Egyptian, the [Abbas] ... is still exerting efforts to stop the Israeli aggression and avoid more disasters for the Palestinian people," the statement said.

Abbas also appealed to all parties to work to find "an acceptable solution" to the crisis.

Israel said Saturday that it rejects a demand by the three Palestinian militant groups holding Shalit to free 1,000 security prisoners being held in its jails and end the IDF offensive launched in Gaza in the wake of his kidnap.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian deputy minister said Saturday that Shalit has received medical treatment for wounds sustained during his abduction and that he is in stable condition.

Speaking at a news conference in Ramallah, Deputy Minister for Prisoner Affairs Ziad Abu Ein cited unidentified "mediators" as telling him that Shalit had been wounded during his abduction.

"He has three wounds," Abu Ein said. "I guess shrapnel wounds." He did not give further details.

But Abu Ein told Haaretz later Saturday that he had simply been quoting media reports and had not received any new information.

Channel 1 television, citing a senior Israeli security official, reported Friday night that a Palestinian doctor treated Shalit for minor shoulder and stomach wounds, and that the soldier was in good condition. Israel Radio said the doctor's visit took place Thursday.

A statement released overnight Friday by the three groups did not say explicitly that the soldier would be freed should their demands be met. But a spokesman for the military wing of the governing Hamas party, one of the three factions involved in the kidnapping, said the demands specified in the statement were in fact conditions for releasing Shalit.

Repeating Israel's refusal to bargain for Shalit's release, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said in response to the statement that "Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has reiterated that there will be no deals, that either Shalit will be released or we will act to bring about his release."

IDF troops entered the southern Gaza Strip in the early hours of Wednesday, in a bid to pressure the Palestinians to release Shalit.

The militants' demand Saturday for the release prisoners was the second statement by the groups since Shalit's abduction. "We are declaring to the public our just and humanitarian demands," the statement said.

The statement repeated an earlier demand for the release of women prisoners and minors in exchange for information on Shalit, but made the added request for Israel to free 1,000 "Palestinian, Arab and Muslim prisoners."

It said these would have to include all Palestinian faction leaders as well as humanitarian cases.

The statement cast doubt on hopes voiced by mediators that Shalit could be freed soon.

"In spite of the good efforts of the mediators who tried in silence to speed up the treatment of this humanitarian matter, the enemy and their political leadership are still under the pressure of the security and military command," it said.

"The escalation and arrogance mean the enemy will be responsible for the bad consequences," it said.

Qassam lands hundreds of meters from Ashkelon
Also Friday, a Qassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed within hundreds of meters of Ashkelon, in what police said was the closest a Qassam strike has come to the southern city.

Police confirmed that the rocket was an improved version of the Qassam. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Early Friday, the IAF struck the Palestinian Interior Ministry in downtown Gaza City, Palestinian witnesses said, setting it on fire. There was no word of casualties.

The Interior Ministry is nominally in charge of Palestinian security forces, though Abbas removed most of its authority.

The IDF confirmed its planes hit the office of Interior Minister Saeed Siyam, which it called "a meeting place to plan and direct terror activity."

A Palestinian militant injured in the strike died of his wounds early Friday, the first fatality in the IDF incursion in Gaza, hospital officials said. The local leader of Islamic Jihad, Mohammed Abdel Al, 25, had been seriously wounded in an air strike in Rafah in southern Gaza.

Three Fatah militants said they were wounded early Friday in a gun battle with IDF forces in northern Gaza, while the army denied troops had entered or fired into the territory, where forces have been massing.

Palestinian hospital officials said a 5-year-old girl was wounded in an air strike in northern Gaza early Friday. Doctors said her condition was not serious.

On Thursday night, IDF artillery shells hit the electricity distribution network in the northern Gaza Strip, plunging parts of the area into darkness.

Palestinian officials said two power transformers were struck, and two security officers were wounded by shrapnel. Dr. Ali Mousa, director of the Abu Yousef al-Najar Hospital in Rafah, also said a 15-year-old boy was moderately wounded by shrapnel in the blast.

The strike came two days after IAF aircraft attacked a major Gaza City power station, reportedly leaving roughly two-thirds of Gaza's 1.3 million residents without electricity.

The IDF confirmed it had been firing artillery at open spaces in the area at the time of Thursday's incident. The army said it has a report of an electrical pole being hit and was checking if the artillery fire was in any way related.

According to information gleaned by the PA, Shalit is being held in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in southern Gaza. Peretz said Thursday afternoon that the IDF would sustain its blockade on the Gaza Strip until Shalit is brought home safely.

Militants killed in Nablus
In the West Bank, IDF troops Friday shot and killed two Palestinian militants during a fierce gunbattle in a Nablus cemetery, Palestinian security officials said.

The soldiers surrounded the cemetery, trapping four militants inside. Initially, two of the militants were arrested, one fled and one was killed, the security officials said. The militants belong to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which is tied to Fatah.

A military source said shooting broke out when troops entered Nablus on a raid to arrest militants. The troops fired back, killing the first militant, the IDF said. The second militant was killed in a exchange of fire which pursued after he had already been arrested by troops.

Two Hamas operatives killed in further air strikes
===================================

Well this is what happens when a terrorist goverment is elected.

[Shammu]

Al-Aqsa Brigades publish details of ‘kidnapped soldier’

 Militant group insists it kidnapped another IDF soldier, publishes his photo, identification card on Al-Jazeera; Israeli investigation finds no basis to claims, reveals details published those of reserves soldier currently abroad
Ali Waked

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah’s armed wing, insisted early Saturday that it had kidnapped another Israel soldier in the past two days.

Al- Jazeera published details of the soldier allegedly abducted by the militants, including a photo of the “kidnapped” soldier, his name,
date of birth, identification number and city of residence. However, an IDF and Israel Police investigation found no basis to the claims, saying the details published by Al-Jazeera were those of a reserves soldier who is currently abroad.

On Friday the Brigades published a statement saying the group had kidnapped a soldier, but provided no identifying details.

The group published a list of demands for the soldier’s release, including the release of Palestinian prisoners and an end to the ‘siege imposed by Israel on the Palestinians since Hamas won the general elections in January.’

In addition, the al-Aqsa Brigades called on Israel to release the Hamas officials recently detained in the West Bank and demanded the transfer of Yasser Arafat’s body to the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

On Friday a senior al-Aqsa members told Ynet that they were unaware of a soldier being abducted by the organization and that the report was apparently false.

Senior al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades members estimated that the report was false, saying that it may have been part of the internal competition between Palestinian organization.

'Our people are frustrated'

A senior al-Aqsa commander said: “There are people here who are unable to digest the success of the Hamas movement and the Popular Resistance Committees, which carried out the abduction in Kerem Shalom, and feel a sort of organizational envy that they are not part of this success.”

The senior commander added that al-Aqsa members recently claimed responsibility for mock kidnappings due to frustration among the activists following the abduction and murder of teen settler Eliyahu Asheri.

He explained that one of the kidnappers was an al-Aqsa member who collaborated with the PRC after realizing that his organization is afraid of carrying out such an operation due to the expected pressures by security organizations following its implementation.

“Our people are frustrated because organizations constraints and the affiliation to Fatah have prevented them from taking part in the abduction. This is the only reason for the recent reports, which are aimed at bringing al-Aqsa back to business in terms of the public opinion, as well as creating confusion among the Israelis,” the commander explained.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades also claimed it had kidnapped missing Rishon Letzion resident Noach Moskowitz, but the 62-year-old’s body was found in a cemetery in the city. Police officials estimated that he died of natural causes.

Al-Aqsa Brigades publish details of ‘kidnapped soldier’

[Shammu]

Abbas warns of worse times ahead

The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has warned that the worst is yet to come, in the current upsurge of violence in the Gaza Strip.

Israel sent troops and tanks into southern Gaza on Wednesday in a clampdown after Palestinian gunmen, some from the armed wing of Hamas, seized Corporal Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid a week ago.

In the latest attack, Israeli helicopter gunships struck the office of the Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh.

Mr Haniyeh has accused Israel of trying to destroy his elected Government and has called for foreign intervention to halt the Israeli intervention into Gaza.

President Abbas is preparing for talks with the UN Middle East envoy, Alvero de Soto, as part of diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict.

But he has warned of worse times ahead.

"I am afraid that what is to come is going to be dangerous because we can't bear another serious aggression and another occupation," he said.

"What is to come may be more difficult.

"Our people are living in harsh ways under the shelling and the air strike and the bombs. But what is to come may be more difficult."

The military offensive in the Gaza Strip has been coupled with statements from Israeli leaders that no members of the Hamas-led government should believe they are immune from attack.

"We are tightening the pressure and we will continue to do what is necessary to ensure Hamas is made to pay the price," Israeli Interior Minister Roni Bar-On told Army Radio after the night-time helicopter assault.

The air strike on Mr Haniyeh's office, he said, was part of an effort aimed at "threatening Hamas's ability to rule".

Israel assassinated Hamas leaders Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi in 2004.

Mr Haniyeh was not in the office at the time of the strike, witnesses said. He arrived quickly to survey the damage.

"This is the policy of the jungle and arrogance," Mr Haniyeh told Reuters. "Nothing will affect our spirit and nothing will affect our steadfastness."

One Hamas member was killed in a second attack on an office used by forces loyal to the Islamic militant group, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction. A third strike hit a Hamas school, but there were no casualties.

Abbas warns of worse times ahead
======================================================

I don't think he knows, of how hard times are going to get.....

[Soldier4Christ]

You mean this??

NORAD Prepared If North Korea Launches Missile

Yep, that's half of it.

[Shammu]

Yep, that's half of it.

Course we know, where the other half is......................... 

[Shammu]

Haniyeh: PA will not cave in to demands
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST    Jun. 30, 2006

In his first public address since Israel began its offensive into the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas on Friday said his government would not cave into Israeli demands but said he was working hard to end a five-day-old crisis with Israel.

Though Haniyeh did not directly address Israel's demand that Palestinian terrorists hand over abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, he implied that the government would not trade him for eight Cabinet ministers and 56 other Hamas officials arrested on Thursday.

"When they kidnapped the ministers they meant to hijack the government's position, but we say no positions will be hijacked, no governments will fall," he said.

A few hours before Haniyeh spoke, Israel's Air Force destroyed the offices of his interior ministry in Gaza, intensifying an air invasion while delaying a broad ground offensive in hopes that pressure on the Hamas government will secure the release of the kidnapped soldier.

Israeli officials said they did not know of such an agreement. But a senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the secrecy of the diplomacy, said the planned ground offensive had been delayed due to a request by Egypt that mediators be given a chance to resolve the crisis.

However, other officials denied the delay was due to Egypt, saying it reflected Israel's overall management of the crisis, which they said required both military pressure and withholding force when necessary.

Haniyeh said Friday that he was in contact with Arab, Muslim and European leaders to try to resolve the crisis, "but this Israeli military escalation complicates matters and makes it more difficult." He also accused Israel of using Shalit's abduction as a pretext for launching a major offensive aimed at bringing down his government.

"This total war is proof of a premeditated plan," he said.

Mohammed Nazal, a Damascus-based member of the Hamas politburo, told The Associated Press on Friday that Israel is not serious about negotiating Shalit's release.

"Israel is negotiating by fire," he said. "They're buying time until they can locate the soldier through intelligence and then try to free him."

Haniyeh: PA will not cave in to demands
=======================================

As usual, they have this kind of backwards don't they?

[Shammu]

 Israel to 'intensify' Gaza action
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has ordered the military to intensify its actions in Gaza to secure the release of a captured Israeli soldier.

Mr Olmert said he had instructed Israel's forces "to do everything" to free 19-year-old Cpl Gilad Shalit.

Hamas's armed wing said it would resume attacks against civilian targets inside Israel if its raids on Gaza continued.

The Palestinian prime minister has called for international intervention to help end Israel's offensive.

Ismail Haniya urged the "international community and the Arab League to take its responsibilities towards our people and intervene" to end what he called Israel's "insane policy", AFP quoted him as saying.

Mr Haniya was speaking hours after an Israeli air strike destroyed his offices in Gaza City.

Fresh threat

At a weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday morning, Mr Olmert said Israel would intensify pressure on the Hamas-led Palestinian government to release Cpl Shalit, believed held by three militant groups in Gaza since his capture one week ago.

"I have instructed the security establishment and the IDF [army] to increase the strength of their actions in order to pursue these terrorists, those who dispatch them, their ideologues and those who sponsor them," he was quoted as saying by AFP.

The BBC's Nick Thorpe in Jerusalem says it is not clear what "intensify" might mean in this context.

Egypt has been in talks with Palestinian militants for days to try to obtain Cpl Shalit's release but has so far yielded no apparent results.

However in a counter-statement the armed wing of Hamas threatened to resume attacks inside Israel.

It condemned the Israeli air raids, which have included strikes on targets such as bridges, a school and a university campus. The Israelis have also hit Gaza's only power plant.

   
GAZA CRISIS TIMELINE
Sun 25 June: Cpl Gilad Shalit captured in cross-border attack
Mon 26 June: Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees demand prisoner releases in exchange for Shalit
Weds 28 June: Israeli military enters southern strip after launching air strikes on Gaza
Thurs 29 June: Israel detains dozens of Hamas officials
Sat 1 July: Groups believed to be holding Cpl Shalit demand 1,000 prisoners be released

"If [Israel] continue with these attacks [on Gaza] we will strike similar targets in the Zionist Occupation which we have not targeted until now," Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas's Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.

In the past Hamas suicide bombers have struck many times in cities like Tel Aviv, but these kind of attacks inside Israel ended nearly two years ago.

The BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says the threat to resume them now might turn out to be no more than rhetoric but it will be taken as another sign of a further hardening of the mood here as the crisis surrounding the captured soldier escalates.

'Symbolic' target

In an overnight attack, Israeli helicopters fired two missiles into the Palestinian prime minister's office, setting it ablaze, witnesses said.

In a gesture of defiance, Mr Haniya, who inspected the damage with Mr Abbas, held a cabinet meeting in what was left of the site.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said the office was attacked as a warning to the Hamas leadership.

"It was a symbolic move because it was done at night and the office was vacant and no-one was hurt," he told the BBC.

"I think we wanted to send a message. [Ismail Haniya] is one of the leaders of Hamas, and we believe that he is responsible for what his organisation does and that when he says he knows nothing about this, I'm afraid we think it's being disingenuous."

In a separate strike, Palestinian officials said a 34-year-old militant died when Israel targeted Hamas facilities in northern Gaza, marking the second such fatality since Israel began its campaign on Tuesday night.

On Sunday Israel temporarily re-opened its main cargo crossing into Gaza, allowing food, fuel and medical supplies to be sent in.

Israeli troops remain entrenched in south-east Gaza, where they entered last Wednesday in the first such offensive there since Israel pulled its troops and settlers out last September.

Israel has built up a large force on the border of the northern Gaza Strip but has yet to order its advance.

Israel to 'intensify' Gaza action

[Shammu]

Israeli Military Told To ' Do All It Can'

(AP) GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Israeli aircraft sent missiles tearing through the office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday in an unmistakable message to his ruling Hamas group to free an Israeli soldier.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet that the military had been ordered to "do all it can" to return the captured 19-year-old corporal, and cautioned that arrests of senior Hamas officials could spread to Gaza, the Islamic militant group's power base, a government official close to the prime minister said.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz told the Cabinet meeting that Israel would go after "higher-caliber targets" in the future — a reference to senior Hamas officials inside and outside the Palestinian territories, a high-ranking political official said.

Israeli aircraft, tanks and naval gunboats have been pounding Gaza for the past week in an effort to win the freedom of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was seized June 25 in a cross-border raid that left two comrades dead. Thousands of troops also were sent into the coastal strip for Israel's first ground invasion since quitting Gaza nine months ago.

Late last week, Olmert called off plans to broaden the incursion in deference to intense diplomatic efforts involving Egypt and other regional players.

There has been no direct evidence of the soldier's condition since he was seized by Hamas-linked militant groups.

So far, the ground invasion has been focused on southern Gaza, where Israel believes Shalit was taken. On Sunday, officials decided to invade northern Gaza if rocket fire on southern Israel resumes from that area, security officials said.

There has been no rocket fire since Saturday night, the military said.

Palestinians said two missiles fired by attack helicopters set Haniyeh's office ablaze, but it was empty because of the early hour — 1:45 a.m., witnesses said. One bystander was injured slightly, hospital officials said.

Haniyeh, inspecting the burning office building, called the Israeli attack senseless.

"They have targeted a symbol for the Palestinian people," he said.

Later, before meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Haniyeh vowed, "This will not break the will of the Palestinian people."

After the meeting, the two men surveyed Haniyeh's damaged office together, waving through a hole in the wall.

"The world must understand that this is a dirty, criminal act," Abbas said.

Israeli Cabinet minister Roni Bar-On said the objective of the attack on Haniyeh's office was to "compromise the Hamas government's ability to rule."

"We will strike and will continue to strike at (Hamas') institutions," said Bar-On, an Olmert ally. "They have to understand that we will not continue to let them run amok."

Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, took power after winning January parliamentary elections. The group has a military wing and a political wing, and its political leadership is divided between more moderate elements in the West Bank and Gaza, and the more radical top leadership based in Syria.

The gunmen holding Shalit are believed to take their orders from Hamas' Damascus-based political chief, Khaled Mashaal.

In other airstrikes after midnight, Israeli aircraft hit a school in Gaza city and Hamas facilities in northern Gaza, where a Hamas militant was killed and another wounded, Palestinian officials said. The military said they were "planning terror attacks against Israel."

The 34-year-old Hamas gunman, Shaaban Manoun, was the second militant killed in the five-day Israeli operation.

Israeli artillery also fired at open spaces near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, the military said. It denied Palestinian radio reports that Hamas training camps were the target. No injuries were reported.

Exerting pressure on Hamas from various directions, Israel continued to hold 64 Hamas leaders, including eight Cabinet ministers, rounded up in the West Bank on Thursday night.

Hamas' roots are in Gaza, and that is where Haniyeh and most other Cabinet ministers live.

"I don't promise that the arrests of senior Hamas officials will be limited to Judea and Samaria," the official close to the prime minister quoted Olmert as saying, using the biblical names for the West Bank. "Wherever there is a proven terror infrastructure, there will be arrests. There will be immunity for no one."

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the Cabinet session was confidential.

Military officials said the government would bring the detainees before a court this week to seek permission to extend their detention.

Israel, meanwhile, reopened its main cargo crossing with Gaza to allow food, medical supplies and fuel to be sent in to the impoverished area from Israel, Israeli officials said.

While food shortages have not been reported, human rights groups have cautioned that Gaza could face a humanitarian crisis because about 43 percent of the territory's electricity supply was knocked out after Israeli missiles struck Gaza's only power station. Israel has increased its supply of electricity to Gaza, the Israeli army said Saturday, but fuel for generators has been scarce.

On Saturday, Hamas demanded the release of more than 1,000 prisoners held by Israel, but Israel rejected that out of hand.

Olmert again said Sunday that Israel would not yield to Hamas' demands.

"Israel doesn't intend to give into blackmail of any sort," Olmert told his Cabinet. "Giving in today would be an invitation to the next act of terror."

Hamas government spokesman Ghazi Hamad urged Israel to be more flexible.

"I think that if the Israeli government will understand that it's possible to release prisoners, things will end OK," Hamad told Army Radio. "If not, I think the situation will be very difficult for us and for you, too. ... Maybe there will be a (military) escalation and people will die."

Peretz met with senior security officials Saturday night and then called Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to urge the Bush administration to step up pressure on Syria to work for Shalit's release, Israeli officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to make a formal statement.

Israeli Military Told To ' Do All It Can'

[Shammu]

Hamas vows revenge after Israel hits PM's office

by Sakher Abu El Oun 1 hour, 29 minutes ago

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Israel struck at the heart of the Palestinian government, hitting the Gaza office of the Hamas prime minister in a new wave of air raids and warning it would use all its power to free a soldier captured by militants a week ago.

The armed wing of Hamas threatened to retaliate by resuming attacks inside Israel, predicting the region would sink in a "sea of blood" if the Israeli offensive continued.

"The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades warn the Zionist enemy: if its operations continue, we will hit the occupation targets we were previously reluctant to strike," said a statement received by AFP in Gaza City.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed his government would not bow to "blackmail" as Palestinians cautioned that Egyptian-led mediation efforts under way to free the captured 19-year-old corporal, Gilad Shalit, were faltering.

"Efforts continue but so far in vain. We are near an impasse," Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told reporters.

Israel has launched its biggest military operation in a year over the captured soldier, sending troops back into the Gaza Strip last week and launching wave after wave of air raids after nightfall.

And in a dramatic new warning to the embattled Palestinian administration, helicopter gunships fired on the office in Gaza overnight of Hamas premier Ismail Haniya, setting the building ablaze.

"It's an attack against a Palestinian symbol," said Haniya, who was not in the office at the time.

"We ask the international community and the Arab League to take its responsibilities towards our people and intervene" to end what he called Israel's "insane policy."

Abbas, inspecting the damage done to the prime minister's office, lashed out at Israel.

"Destroying institutions for the Palestinian people, targeting a power plant or the office of prime minister Haniya are truly criminal operations," he said of Israel's five-day aerial campaign against Gaza.

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres insisted the raid on Haniya's office was a shot across the government's bows rather than an assassination bid.

"It was not an attempt on his life, but it was a clear warning to stop this double behaviour," Peres told CNN.

"We didn't disturb the elections, but once we see the way they behave, we cannot consider them a government," he said of the administration Hamas formed after its upset January election win..

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat warned that Israeli air strikes were only escalating the crisis.

"I don't want to sound pessimistic, but I'm really afraid that every hour that passes ... we're going to lose the ability to solve the crisis, diplomatically and politically," he told CNN.

Israel has rejected outright the demands of militant groups which seized Shalit in a deadly attack on an army post on the Gaza border on June 25 and are now seeking the release of Palestinian prisoners.

It has also threatened to strike at Hamas leaders, including those based in Damascus, raising fears of a regional escalation of the worst crisis in the Middle East since Hamas came to power and Olmert took the helm in Israel.

"My government has instructed the IDF (army) and the security establishment to do everything in order to bring Gilad back home... and when I say everything, I mean everything," Olmert told the weekly cabinet meeting.

The international community has issued urgent appeals for restraint on both sides to ensure the standoff does not spread across the region, while US President George W. Bush said the release of the soldier was "key" to ending the crisis.

Witnesses said at least one Israeli missile fired from a helicopter gunship struck Haniya's office shortly before 2:00 am (2300 GMT Saturday), sparking a blaze swiftly doused by a team of Palestinian firefighters.

A second air strike in the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabaliya killed a member of the Hamas armed wing and wounded another.

The Ezzedine Brigades were responsible for the most spectacular suicide bombings in Israel over the last decade although it has not carried out any such attacks for more than a year.

A Palestinian security official said one of the attacks targeted a school run by the Islamist movement, which operates a social welfare wing in the impoverished Gaza Strip. The Israeli military denied a school was hit.

A senior official from Abbas's office had warned Saturday that Haniya's life could be on the line if a solution were not reached soon.

Israel last week hit the Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza, detained scores of Hamas members in the occupied West Bank including eight ministers and more than 20 lawmakers, and revoked the Jerusalem residency of four others.

Haniya carried out an emergency cabinet reshuffle Sunday to replace the detained ministers.

Israel has also issued warnings to archfoe Syria over its harbouring of Hamas leaders, including political supremo Khaled Meshaal, and in a show of force last week its warplanes buzzed a Mediterranean residence of President Bashar al-Assad.

With the threat of a fullscale Israeli ground offensive looming, already impoverished residents of Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas on the planet with a population of 1.4 million, are grappling with shortages of food, fuel and electricity.

But Israel temporarily opened a border crossing to allow in supplies of humanitarian supplies including food, and it resumed pumping fuel.

About 5,000 troops and columns of Israeli tanks are poised on the Gaza border in the largest Israeli military operation since it pulled out of the tiny coastal territory last September, ending a 38-year presence. But it has held off so far from sending in more troops from the north.

Hamas vows revenge after Israel hits PM's office