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Palestinians ambush Israeli soldiers

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 26, 2006

KIBBUTZ KEREM SHALOM, Israel - Palestinian militants sneaked into Israel underneath a Gaza Strip border crossing Sunday, killed two Israeli soldiers and captured another, raising the threat of an all-out conflict in Gaza just a year after Israel's pullout.

Israel, which sent ground troops into Gaza after the assault, blamed the Hamas-led government and warned that militants and their leaders will be killed if the abducted soldier is harmed. Hamas appealed for restraint.

Moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh of Hamas late Sunday for talks on the fate of the captured Israeli soldier and other matters, said Deputy Prime Minister Nasser Shaer. There was no confirmation of the meeting from Abbas' office.

"We care about the life of the soldier and we call upon the kidnappers to guarantee his life and to release him," Shaer said.

Three Palestinian attackers were killed in the battle with Israeli forces at the crossing point where the borders of Israel, Egypt and Gaza converge.

A spokesman for the Gaza militant group believed to be holding the soldier rejected calls from Palestinian leaders for his release.

The assault spiked tensions that already are high because of daily Palestinian rocket barrages from Gaza and bloody Israeli reprisals, against the background of open enmity between Israel and the Palestinian government, headed by the Islamic militant group Hamas.

The group played a leading role in the long-planned attack, and the operation cast a shadow over talks between Hamas and Abbas' moderate Fatah movement concerning a joint program that includes implicit recognition of Israel, and Hamas' efforts to counter its image as a terrorist group and ease Western sanctions.

After the attack, Israel closed the vital border crossings, the only way people and goods can enter or exit the territory. Previous closings have created widespread hardships.

Hamas, which recently resumed its open involvement in rocket fire on Israel, confirmed its participation in the attack. The small Popular Resistance Committees and a previously unknown group, the Islamic Army, also said they participated.

"This operation is a natural response to the Israeli crimes of killing women and children, and the assassination of two (militant) leaders," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

One of those leaders, PRC leader Jamal Abu Samhadana, was killed in an Israeli airstrike two weeks ago, shortly after accepting a senior security position in the Hamas-led government. His killing was part of a rapidly escalating round of rocket barrages and counterstrikes.

Hamas TV ran a statement by Abu Musanna, a spokesman for the Islamic Army, a PRC offshoot, rejecting the appeals. He said the group's demands in exchange for the soldier would be "a prize for our people."

The brazen predawn attack was the first ground assault by Palestinian militants since Israel pulled out of Gaza last summer, and the first abduction of an Israeli soldier by Palestinians since 1994.

Palestinians spent months digging an 800-yard tunnel starting in Gaza and stretching 300 yards into Israel. Bursting through before dawn, seven or eight militants attacked the Israeli guard post at the Kerem Shalom crossing point from the rear, "one of the reasons the troops were surprised," military spokesman Capt. Jacob Dallal said.

The attackers hurled grenades into a tank, killing two soldiers, badly wounding another and capturing the fourth.

Most of Israel's attention was focused on the missing soldier, identified as Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19. Israelis are sensitive about bringing soldiers home and in the past have freed large numbers of captured militants in return for soldiers or their bodies.

However, Israel also has traditionally hesitated to negotiate with militant groups over hostages. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called his Security Cabinet into special session at sundown Sunday to map out a strategy.

[Last modified June 26, 2006, 02:30:55]