Word: palestinians
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...game of brinkmanship across the Gaza front lines has entered a new and more dangerous phase following a Palestinian raid inside Israel that killed two soldiers and saw a third kidnapped. Already under strong public pressure to maintain a tough response to Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza, Israeli leaders now face the challenge of answering a Palestinian attack that has been deeply troubling to the Israeli psyche. In the early hours of Sunday, seven or eight Palestinian gunmen emerged from a tunnel dug some 500 feet into Israeli territory at Kerem Shalom and, with supporting fire from inside Gaza, attacked...
...Israel immediately sent tanks and soldiers a short distance into Gaza to locate the tunnel and destroy it. Though the target at Kerem Shalom had been a military one, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other officials labeled it a "terrorist" attack that demanded the sternest of responses. All Palestinian leaders would be held accountable, he declared, and no distinction would be made between military and political wings of parties such as Hamas. "Let it be clear," said Olmert, "We will reach everyone, no matter where they are, and they know...
...several possible military actions, including air strikes against militant targets, assassinations of Hamas political leaders - up to and including Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh - and the reoccupation of Gaza. While troops and tanks are massed at the edge of territory, however, the plans are on hold while intermediaries, including Palestinian and Egyptian officials, try to negotiate the release of Cpl. Shalit...
...Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, embroiled in his own power struggle with Hamas, denounced the attack as ill-considered and counter-productive, saying it both "violated the national consensus" and potentially offered Israel "a pretext to launch a widespread military operation." What happens next may depend on the fate of Cpl. Shalit. Numerous countries are lobbying Palestinian leaders to do everything they can to secure his release, with Egyptian representatives apparently playing a key role. Several senior officials of the Hamas government have publicly called for Shalit to be released unharmed. The militants holding the young soldier have said they...
...Once it was smuggled out, the plan found a champion in Abbas, who wants the Palestinians to vote on it in a late July referendum. Hamas, along with four other Palestinian groups, opposes the referendum. Hamas Prime Minister Ismael Haniyah warned that his government "will not make political concessions" to Israel and opposes the vote as a waste of money. If Hamas and Abbas can indeed now come to an agreement on the prisoners' proposal, that would end the need for a referendum - and the dispute over it. Until then, however, the political showdown is fanning the anger...