women from Israeli jails in exchange for information about a missing soldier.
The statement of the Qassam Martyrs Brigade, an armed wing of the ruling Palestinian party Hamas, and other militants came as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered commanders to prepare for a major offensive following a deadly Palestinian militant attack on the Gaza border, and the kidnapping of Israeli tank gunner Gilad Shalit.
Shalit, a 20-year-old soldier who also holds French nationality, was reportedly snatched in a brazen raid on an army post on the Gaza Strip border at dawn on Sunday, June 25, in which two other Israeli servicemen and two Palestinian fighters were killed.
Militant groups in Gaza reportedly said they will only give information on Shalit’s whereabouts if Palestinian children and women are released from Israeli jails.
OPTIONS OPEN
It was not immediately clear how Israel would react, however Olmert has made clear he will keep all options open. Israel has been massing troops on the border to prepare for any retaliatory operations after Sunday’s assault by gunmen who tunneled their way under the border and attacked the post with rockets and bombs, news reports said.
Sunday’s attack was seen as the deadliest militant assault in the area since last summer when Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip, which observers say has since become plagued by lawlessness and deadly feuding between rival political factions.
"Yesterday I instructed the heads of the army to deploy our forces in order to be ready to prepare for a prolonged and extensive military operation in order to strike the terror organizations and commanders," Olmert stressed in published remarks. It came also as a setback for attempts by Olmert and the Palestinian president to ease tensions. Last week they met in the ancient town of Petra in Jordan.
