Palestinian Militants Issue 24 Hour Ultimatum
Shaveta Bansal - All Headline News Staff Writer Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip (AHN) - Palestinian militants, who abducted an Israeli soldier during June 25 raids, on Monday gave Israel a less than 24 hours to meet their demands to release Palestinian prisoners, threatening unspecified consequences if it refused. However, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has refused the ultimatum. A "Military Communiqué 3", issued by the armed wing of the governing Hamas movement and two other factions, said, "If the enemy does not agree to our humanitarian demands ... we will regard this case as closed." "We give the Zionist enemy until 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) tomorrow, Tuesday, the fourth of July," the statement said. However, Olmert refused to abide by the ultimatum. His defense chief said Israel would "know how to reach everyone responsible" if Corporal Gilad Shalit was harmed. The 19-year-old soldier was seized in a June 25 cross-border raid. In previous communiqués, the militant groups, Hamas' Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the Popular Resistance Committees and the previously unknown Islamic Army, called on Israel, to release some 400 Palestinian women and youths in its prisons in return for information about Shalit. Subsequently, they demanded Israel to free 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. In defiance of the demands, "the enemy will bear full responsibility for future consequences", the factions said. The statement |
