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MIDDLE EASTCompromise talk rejected Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz gave the green light to additional incursions, security officials said July 11, after the Hamas leader said he would not stop rocket attacks nor free an Israeli soldier whose capture by Palestinian militants led to a bloody 13-day confrontation. On July 10, Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal demanded a prisoner swap, but Olmert said that would be a "major mistake." The two men spoke within hours of each other -- Olmert in Jerusalem, Mashaal in Damascus, Syria. Neither expressed any readiness to compromise, boding poorly for an end any time soon to Israel's Gaza Strip incursion. "They will never be able to win from me any minor concession," Mashaal insisted in his first public appearance since the June 25 capture of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19. Speaking to foreign reporters, Olmert saved some of his harshest rhetoric for Mashaal. "Khaled Mashaal is a terrorist with blood on his hands. He's not a legitimate partner for anything. He's not a partner and he won't be a partner. I will not negotiate with Hamas," the Israeli leader said. However, Olmert said the violence in Gaza would not deter him from carrying out his plan to leave the West Bank, despite a growing sentiment among Israelis that last year's Gaza pullout was a failure.
The Japan Times Weekly: July 15, 2006 |
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