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<font size=5 color="#FF0000"><b>2 articles follow!<br><br>
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</b></font><font size=3>Israel arrests Hamas leadership<br><br>
Thursday 29 June 2006 1:57 AM GMT <br><br>
<b>Israeli forces have rounded up dozens of Palestinian Cabinet ministers
and lawmakers from Hamas, increasing pressure on militants to release a
captured Israeli soldier.<br><br>
</b>Witnesses said on Thursday that tanks moved into northern Gaza,
widening Israel's largest military operation in the year since it pulled
out of the seaside territory.<br><br>
Adding to the tension, a Palestinian militant group claimed on Thursday
that it had killed an 18-year-old Jewish settler kidnapped in the West
Bank. Palestinian security officials said they believed the body of
Eliahu Asheri had been found in the West Bank city of Ram Allah.<br><br>
Hamas officials said more than 30 lawmakers have been arrested in the
West Bank.<br><br>
Palestinian security officials said Israeli forces detained Nasser Shaer,
the Palestinian deputy prime minister, and three other Cabinet ministers,
as well as four lawmakers in Ram Allah. Several others were arrested in
the town of Jenin, they said.<br><br>
Israeli media reported a roundup of Hamas lawmakers in Jerusalem and
other locations. Also, the Hamas mayor of the West Bank town of Qalqiliya
and his deputy were detained, security officials said.<br><br>
The Israeli military refused to comment. Israel blames Hamas for the
Sunday attack in which two soldiers were killed and a third captured when
militants tunnelled under the border and attacked an army post, setting
off the invasion.<br><br>
According to the witnesses, before daybreak on Thursday, Israeli tanks
and bulldozers moved into northern Gaza, stopping about 200m inside
Palestinian territory across from the Jabaliya refugee camp. No clashes
were reported. But the military denied its forces had moved into northern
Gaza.<br><br>
<b>No casualties<br><br>
</b>Despite the size of the Israeli operation, with large troop
movements, artillery barrages and many air strikes over two days, no one
was hurt.<br><br>
Israel held the Palestinian government, headed by Hamas, responsible for
the fate of the soldier. It also blamed the Hamas leadership in exile in
Syria.<br><br>
An Israeli Cabinet minister said Khalid Mishaal, the Syria-based Hamas
leader, was a target for assassination. In a bold warning to the country
that shelters him, Israeli warplanes buzzed the seaside home of Bashar
Assad, the Syrian president, in the port of Latakia.<br><br>
Syria confirmed that Israeli warplanes entered its airspace, but said its
air defences forced the Israeli aircraft to flee.<br><br>
Israel's concern goes beyond the rescue of the soldier and the negative
precedent abducting soldiers would set. Ehud Olmert's government is
alarmed by the firing of homemade rockets at Israeli communities around
Gaza and support for Hamas in the Arab world, especially from
Syria.<br><br>
Earlier, witnesses reported heavy shelling around Gaza's long-closed
airport, and Israeli missiles hit two empty Hamas training camps, a
rocket-building factory and several roads.<br><br>
<b>Humanitarian crisis<br><br>
</b>Palestinians filled up on basic supplies after warplanes knocked out
electricity, raising the possibility of a humanitarian crisis. The
Hamas-led government's information ministry warned of "epidemics and
health disasters" because of damaged water pipes to central Gaza and
the lack of power to pump water.<br><br>
In Rafah, Nivine Abu Shbeke, a 23-year-old mother of three, hoarded bags
of flour, boxes of vegetables and other supplies. <br><br>
"We're worried about how long the food will last," she said.
"The children devour everything."<br><br>
Dozens of Palestinian militants - armed with automatic weapons and
grenades - took up positions, bracing for attack.<br><br>
Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, threatened harsher action to free the
soldier, though he said there was no plan to re-occupy Gaza. Mahmoud
Abbas, the Palestinian president, deplored the incursion as a
"crime against humanity".<br><br>
Abbas and Egyptian dignitaries tried to persuade Assad to use his
influence with Mishaal to free the soldier, Corporal Gilad Shalit. Assad
agreed, but without results, said a senior Abbas aide. Israel refused to
negotiate with the militants and rejected their demand - freeing
Palestinian prisoners - outright.<br><br>
<b>The US pressure<br><br>
</b>The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) in Gaza said they had killed
Asheri, kidnapped in the West Bank. Palestinian security officials said
the body had been found, and Israeli security sources said the youth had
apparently been killed. The PRCs had said it would execute the hostage if
Israel did not halt its invasion of Gaza.<br><br>
Also, militants said they kidnapped another Israeli, and police said they
had a missing person report about a 62-year-old Israeli from the central
Israeli city of Rishon Lezion.<br><br>
Meanwhile, the European Union on Wednesday urged both Israel and the
Palestinians to "step back from the brink" and, echoing a
statement from Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, to give
diplomacy a chance.<br><br>
The White House kept up its pressure on Hamas, saying the Palestinian
government must "stop all acts of violence and terror". But the
US also urged Israel to show restraint.<br><br>
Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, urged restraint in a phone call to
Olmert, saying he had spoken to Assad and Abbas and asked them to do
everything possible to release the soldier. Amr Mussa, the Arab League
secretary-general, called on the US to assume its role as "honest
broker" and to make the Palestinian-Israeli conflict its top
priority in the Middle East.<br><br>
<b>Agencies<br><br>
<br>
</b>You can find this article at:<br>
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/087CE7F6-233F-4AB7-A48F-E42A2C3C7676.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/087CE7F6-233F-4AB7-A48F-E42A2C3C7676.htm</a>
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<br>
Israel denies tactical role of arrests<br><br>
Thursday 29 June 2006 9:55 AM GM<br><br>
<b>The Israeli army has denied it arrested Palestinian government
ministers in an attempt to pressure the Palestinian Resistance Committees
group into releasing an Israeli soldier kidnapped by them on
Sunday.<br><br>
</b></font><font size=2>Mark Regev, the Israeli foreign ministry
spokesman, said the arrests were "due to the fact that Hamas over
the last few weeks has escalated terror attacks against
Israel".<br>
<br>
Jacob Dalal, an army spokesman, said: "They are not being used as
bargaining chips. These are people with terrorist records, with
allegations and charges pending against them."<br><br>
An army spokeswoman said the ministers would be investigated, brought
before a judge, their detention extended and charge sheets
prepared.<br><br>
During raids in Ram Allah and Jerusalem early on Thursday, at least eight
Hamas cabinet ministers were detained.<br><br>
Israeli troops detained five of the ministers at the same Ram Allah
hotel, Aljazeera reported.<br><br>
Some were led away blindfolded and in handcuffs, Palestinian security
sources said.<br><br>
Palestinian officials said Umar Abd al-Raziq, the Palestinian finance
minister, and at least seven other cabinet members, along with nearly 20
Hamas legislators in operations across the West Bank were
detained.<br><br>
Israel said 64 Hamas officials in all were taken into custody during the
West Bank operation.<br><br>
In a sign of worsening relations between Israelis and Palestinians, a
planned summit between Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, and
Mahmud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has been cancelled.<br><br>
Abbas condemned the arrests of the Hamas politicians and called on
Western powers to intervene to "restore democracy".<br><br>
The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) group, which claimed
responsibility for the kidnapping of Corporal Gilad Shalit during a raid
on an Israeli army post, said: "Olmert and [defence minister] Amir
Peretz will be entirely responsible for the life of the kidnapped soldier
if the aggression continues."<br><br>
Palestinians lined up at public water fountains to fill up jugs after a
second night of power cuts, under Israeli military pressure that has
sparked fears of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.<br><br>
"When the Israelis come, maybe we'll be stuck in our homes for God
knows how long," says Isra Abu Anza, a 16-year-old girl standing in
a queue at one of the fountains.<br><br>
"We need to drink, to wash, to bathe."<br><br>
An Israeli missile destroyed a crucial power station late on Tuesday. In
Rafah, which relied on the destroyed power plant for half of its daily
energy needs, residents are now left without power for much of the
day.<br><br>
The Israeli military continued to prepare for a ground assault on parts
of Gaza.<br><br>
In preparation for the offensive, Israel dropped leaflets on northern
Gaza urging residents to avoid areas troops may single out for
attack.<br><br>
Israeli aircraft fired missiles at the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday,
with the military saying it aimed at open areas, and Palestinian medical
officials saying a car was hit.<br><br>
</font><font size=3><b>Aljazeera + Agencies<br><br>
<br>
</b>You can find this article at:<br>
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/236C0F88-5DB5-4B1C-BAC4-D9721837757A.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/236C0F88-5DB5-4B1C-BAC4-D9721837757A.htm</a>
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