Two days after an Israeli soldier was abducted by Hamas
gunmen from an IDF outpost inside of the Green Line, there
have been no significant further developments, and it is not
clear when there will be. Neither side has spoken about any
deadlines.
Also on Tuesday afternoon there were growing fears that
Eliyahu Asheri, 18, from the settlement of Itamar near
Shechem who has been missing since Sunday, has been
kidnapped. Palestinian terrorists claimed that they had
kidnapped someone on the West Bank. As we go to press the IDF
says that it does not have definite proof. Asheri was
reported missing, but the IDF initially thought that they
Palestinians may have taken advantage of the missing person
report to declare that they had taken another hostage.
Security forces also said that members of Breslav had
announced that they were planning to visit the tomb of Yosef
Hatzaddik on his yahrtzeit even though the IDF
prohibited such a visit. They were concerned that one of the
Breslavers had been taken hostage.
For Hamas and all the Palestinians, freeing Palestinians who
have been tried and convicted and are serving time in Israeli
jails for crimes they committed is one of the highest
priorities. It is certainly more important to many
Palestinians than their own lives, which they are prepared to
give up in order to murder Israelis, also a high priority
among parts of the Palestinian population.
Even though Israel declared when it left the Gaza Strip last
summer that it would feel free to reenter if its security
needs required it to do so, it has been reluctant to incur
the costs that such an operation would probably exact. Even
as it has become increasingly clear that a way to stop the
regular launching of Kassam rockets without reentering Gaza
is not available, Israel has not mounted a large scale effort
within Gaza.
The difficulties of doing so include the casualties that
Israel is likely to incur, as well as the political cost
since such a move may arouse widespread condemnation.
Palestinians also make an explicit effort to wage a
propaganda war against Israel, accusing it of harming
civilians after their terrorists deliberately operate from
among Palestinian civilian populations, contrary to the
accepted international rules of warfare. Thus, when Israel
entered Jenin they tried to accuse Israel of a massacre.
The Palestinians are trying to exact the greatest price for
their captive, which is only possible if he remains alive.
Although Cpl. Shalit (Gil'ad ben Avivah) was seen to
have been captured alive, no one has released any further
proof of his state since then. Reportedly he was wounded
during the capture, but the wounds were not serious.
Some Palestinian groups have demanded the release of all of
the 95 Palestinian women and 313 Palestinians under 18 in
Israeli jails before they would release information. It was
not made clear if those groups are even holding the prisoner.
In any case, Israel rejected the demand. PM Olmert said:
"This is not a matter of negotiations, this is not a matter
of bargaining . . . [the] release of prisoners is absolutely
not on the agenda of the Israeli government."
Israel seems to be preparing the world for a military assault
through a concerted diplomatic effort to make its position
clear before it takes action. PM Olmert has said several
times that Israel holds all of Hamas liable for the safety of
Shalit. "We will do all that we can to ensure that Gilad
Shalit returns home safe and sound, and it must be clear that
there will be no immunity for anyone connected in any way to
his kidnapping and imprisonment."
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni spent Monday meeting with some
60 ambassadors she called to the Foreign Ministry. She
reportedly told them that if Israel were forced to take
military action to secure the release of Shalit, Jerusalem
would expect "understanding and support in the international
community for that action, and that it should be seen as
Israel's acting within the right of legitimate self-defense
that every nation enjoys." Livni also called up UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan about the affair.
Livni was also in touch with Washington, and particularly
with US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. On Tuesday Rice
today urged Israel to give diplomacy more time. "There really
needs to be an effort now to try and calm the situation, not
to let the situation escalate, and to give diplomacy a chance
to work to try to get this release," Ms. Rice told
reporters.
Israel has tried to seal off the southern part of Gaza to
ensure that its soldier is not taken elsewhere.
Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, was captured early Sunday morning in a
raid by eight Palestinians into Israel through a long tunnel
from Gaza. The tunnel extended about 300 meters into Israel
and appeared to have been at least twice as long on the
Palestinian side. Such a raid must have been in planning and
preparation stages for weeks or even months. Hamas was part
of the planning and execution.
Eight Palestinian fighters came out of the tunnel behind
Israeli lines and near an IDF outpost at Kerem Shalom. The
terrorists split up into several smaller groups. One group
attacked a tank from behind, killing two members of the tank
crew: the commander of the tank Lt. Hanan Barak, and Staff
Sergeant Pavel Slutsker. Shalit, also a member of the tank
crew, was taken captive. He was wounded but was seen walking
away. The terrorists blew a hole in the Gaza separation fence
and went back through it.
Two of the terrorists were killed when they tried to enter a
watchtower. The rest escaped. After the two terrorists were
killed there was an explosion that injured several Israeli
soldiers. The suspicion was that the terrorist was planning
to detonate the charge inside the tower.
One official in the Prime Minister's Office said that PA
Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar was asked in March how
Hamas would be different from Fatah, and he replied that
Hamas would win the release of prisoners by kidnapping
soldiers and then negotiating for their release. "Zahar
implicated himself," the official said.
