Gaza City, Gaza Strip – The spokesman for one of the Hamas-linked groups holding an Israeli soldier said today that because Israel ignored a deadline to release Palestinian prisoners, the militants won’t release any information about the soldier.
The spokesman, Abu Muthana, would not say whether the soldier is dead or alive.
“We will not give any information that will give the occupation good news or reassurance,” he told reporters.
The militants had set a 6 a.m. deadline local time – or 9 p.m. Mountain time Monday – for Israel to begin freeing the prisoners, implying they would kill Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, if their demands were not met.
After the deadline passed, Israeli Cabinet minister Roni Bar-On told Israel Radio: “Israel will not give in to terrorists and will not give in to extortion.”
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected any negotiations with the militants, and the army pressed ahead with its Gaza offensive. Privately, though, some officials said the government had not ruled out any options to win Shalit’s freedom.
In Damascus, Syria said it had nothing to do with the soldier’s capture and could play no role in obtaining his freedom.
“The government of Israel will not yield to the extortion of the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas government, which are led by murderous terrorist organizations,” Olmert said.
Early today, Israeli tanks began moving in greater numbers into the Beit Hanoun neighborhood of northern Gaza, appearing to broaden smaller-scale military operations Monday. Witnesses said an airstrike killed at least one person and wounded several others.
Israeli aircraft also bombed an empty building at the Islamic University in downtown Gaza.
As Israeli forces moved into northern Gaza and with indirect negotiations apparently at a standstill, the week-old crisis threatened to spill over Israel’s border into Syria.
After the Palestinian ultimatum was issued, the Israeli defense minister, Amir Peretz, said he would hold accountable Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has allowed Hamas’ political leader, Khaled Meshal, to live in Syria and is believed to have significant influence over him.
“The Hamas’ terror headquarters operates in Syria and is headed by Khaled Meshal,” Peretz told leaders of the Labor Party, which he heads. “I suggest that Bashar al-Assad, who is trying to conduct himself blindly, open his eyes, because he bears the responsibility. … We will know how to strike those who are involved.”
Last week, Israeli warplanes buzzed Assad’s summer home in Latakia, and they have carried out strikes in the past on what the Israelis said were terrorist targets in Syria.
In Damascus on Monday, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said that while Syria had influence with Hamas, it did not have any hand in the capture of the Israeli soldier and would be unable to demand his release.
Instead, Muallem said, the only solution would be an end to the Israeli military operation, followed by negotiations between Israel and Hamas. He said Israel would have to be willing to offer a fair deal, such as releasing prisoners who are women or under 18.
“Now, for a solution, the aggression has to stop in order to allow room for diplomacy,” Muallem said in an interview. “To solve the issue, it is not correct that the key is in Damascus. The key is in Gaza.”
The ultimatum by the Palestinians said that if Israel did not begin releasing prisoners, Israel would “bear full responsibility for the future consequences.”
“If they don’t fulfill our demands, we will close the kidnapped soldier’s file,” a spokesman for one of the groups, the Popular Resistance Committees, told reporters in Gaza.
Asked if that meant the soldier would be killed, the spokesman said: “We will close the file. We have no comment beyond that.”
Since his capture June 25, Israeli forces have imposed a slow squeeze on Gaza to try to secure the soldier’s release, crossing over the borders in the north and the south, firing some 1,500 artillery rounds from land and sea, and carrying out nightly air raids. They also put pressure on civilians in Gaza, knocking out its only power plant and sharply limiting what goods can pass into Gaza. Exports have been halted entirely.
If the soldier is killed, that campaign is likely to intensify quickly and violently. One Israeli Cabinet member was quoted as saying, “Our operations will be far, far worse.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.