Special report: Israel holds back military response

        Special report: New violence between Israel, Palestine

    

An undated picture of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, 19, released by his family June 25, 2006. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

GAZA, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The new Palestinian militant group participated in the abduction of an Israeli soldier in Gaza under the name of the Islamic Army said on Monday that the group is an offshoot of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC).

    The PRC is also a close ally to the ruling Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and have carried out, along with the Islamic Army, an attack against an Israeli army post at Kerem Shalom crossing in southeastern Gaza Strip, abducting Israeli soldier and killing two others.

    A spokesman of the Islamic Army, calling himself as Abu Muthana, affirmed to reporters that the seized Israeli soldier would not be handed "as a present for any European or Arab side."

    "We have spent nights for the sake of carrying out such operation, so would we hand him as a free present without any charge while our prisoners are held in Israel and the bodies of our martyrs are in Israeli morgues," he wondered.

    About 8500 Palestinians are held in Israeli jails, including a number of senior Hamas activists who have spent more than 20 years in prison.

    Abu Muthana also denounced the Israeli raid at the Palestinian jail of Jericho where Ahmed Sa'dat, the Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was kidnapped by Israeli soldiers and transported to Israel.

    As he welcomed the Egyptian mediation to free the Israeli soldier, Abu Muthana wondered "where the mediations were when Sa'dat was abducted, when the family of Ghalia was killed and when the Secretary-General of the PRC, Jamal Abu Samhadana, was assassinated."

    The PRC, most of its members were Fatah fighters, has supported Hamas in the January parliamentary elections.

    After taking office in March, the Hamas-led government has appointed Abu Samhadana of the PRC as the General Director of the Interior Ministry. A few weeks later, Israel assassinated Abu Samhadana since he was wanted for Israel since the year 2000. Enditem