Region | Palestinian Territories

Egypt deploys forces on Gaza border

Egypt has asked Hamas to release a kidnapped Israeli soldier and has deployed 2,500 extra troops along its border with Gaza, officials said yesterday in a sign of how worried Arab countries have become about possible fallout from the latest Israel-Palestinian crisis.

  • AP
  • Published: 00:00 June 28, 2006
  • Gulf News

Cairo: Egypt has asked Hamas to release a kidnapped Israeli soldier and has deployed 2,500 extra troops along its border with Gaza, officials said yesterday in a sign of how worried Arab countries have become about possible fallout from the latest Israel-Palestinian crisis.

Egypt's chief of intelligence, Omar Sulaiman, urged the leader of Hamas, Khalid Mesha'al, who is in exile in Syria, to push for the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who was seized by Palestinian militants in a raid from Gaza on Sunday, the Egyptian officials said.

Israel has massed tanks and soldiers on its Gaza frontier and threatened to move into the territory unless the soldier is released. It has also closed its crossings with the Gaza Strip, stopping all movement of people and goods.

An Israeli incursion into Gaza would be likely to cause large numbers of Palestinians to flee to northern Egypt, where many have family members.

Mohammad Nazal, a member of the Damascus-based Hamas politburo, confirmed the Egyptian mediation but said the group won't agree to release the Israeli soldier "without a deal."

"No release without something in return," he said. "This is the popular demand and we cannot let down our people."

Mesha'al told mediators, including those from Egypt, that it was not up to him to free the soldier, insisting the decision was in the hands of the militants in Gaza holding him, a Hamas official in Damascus said.

He said in addition to Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Turkey also contacted Mesha'al urging him to resolve the standoff and Mesha'al gave them similar replies.

Corporal 'held in a secure place'

As Israel massed troops along the Gaza border, a Palestinian militant leader yesterday said a captured Israeli soldier was being held in a "secure place" and claimed his group also seized a Jewish colonist in the West Bank.

The new claims about captive Israelis came from the Popular Resistance Committee, a violent group with close ties to the Hamas-led Palestinian government. The PRC was one of three groups that took part in Sunday's cross-border infiltration near Gaza in which militants killed two Israeli soldiers and abducted Gilad Shalit.

"The soldier is in a secure place that the Zionists cannot reach," PRC spokesman Mohammad Abdul Al said.

The kidnappers have not said where the 19-year-old soldier is being held or released any photos of him. Israeli officials believe Shalit sustained light wounds to his stomach and is being held by Hamas militants in southern Gaza. Abdul Al also said his group had taken a Jewish colonist in the West Bank hostage.

  • Rate this article
  • Average reader rating (0 votes) 0 Stars
Tools

Emailing an article to friend is a simple way to share a news item. Your friend will receive an email with your name and email address as well any personal message you choose to send.

The information you provide on this page will not be used to send unsolicited emails.

This service is not intended to encourage spam, and action may be taken against individuals who maliciously enter personal details of another individual.

Share this article

More from Palestinian Territories

  1. Israel to beef up enforcement of colony freeze

  2. Chavez: Israel aims to ‘terminate' Palestinians

  3. Abbas: Israeli colony freeze not enough

  4. US urged to raise pressure on Israel

All articles in Palestinian territories

More from Region

Gulf News
Popular in News
News Editor's choice