Word: shalit
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...part of an operation aimed at freeing an Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, who was abducted by Palestinian militants during a daring cross-border raid Sunday morning, the air force has blown up three bridges, cutting Gaza's main roads and limiting mobility between the north and south...
...moment, the troops are holding observatory positions just inside the border, on the site of an abandoned airport about a mile from the southern town of Rafah. It is there that military intelligence believes Shalit is being held. Palestinian gunmen had taken up positions throughout Gaza, but as of yet, neither side has initiated a confrontation, suggesting that there are some non-military avenues to resolution...
...Shalit is released, Israeli officials have said repeatedly, the army will pull back. Still, it doesn't look good. Attempts to negotiate Shalit's release, assisted by Egyptian mediators, have been paralyzed by the absence of a clear hierarchy on the other side. Numerous Palestinian leaders, led by President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' political leader, have been working to secure the soldier's release, but the militants holding Shalit apparently do not answer to them. Israeli officials are saying directions are coming from Damascus, from Hamas' leader in exile Khaled Meshal, who is pushing a much...
...Talks could still be ongoing, as many undoubtedly are praying for. But Israel is clearly preparing for action if they fail and trying to prevent the militants holding Shalit from moving him to another part of Gaza or outside the territory. On Wednesday, while the sonic booms continued, the Israeli Defense Forces began shelling Northern Gaza - a measure taken, officials said, to halt Qassam rocket fire from the area into Israel - and seemed poised to cross into the territory. The Israeli Air Force also buzzed the summer home of Syria's president, a brazen, none-too-subtle message conveying Israel...
...Israel has already made clear that if Corporal Gilad Shalit is killed, it will exact a terrible revenge on the Palestinian political leadership. It may even target Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who has reportedly reached agreement with President Mahmoud Abbas to seek some form of a two-state solution, in response to international demands that Hamas recognize Israel. But it isn't Haniyeh and the Hamas leaders in government that are behind the kidnapping; Israel believes the perpetrators are hard-liners taking orders from exiled Hamas leaders in Syria, who oppose the reported shift towards moderation and compromise...