Special report: Israel launches Gaza assault

    GAZA, July 2 (Xinhua) -- A senior Palestinian lawmaker said Sunday that the abducted Israeli soldier can only be released if Israel positively responds to the kidnappers' demands.

    Ahmed Bahar, a deputy to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) speaker, made the call to reporters following a meeting held at PLC's Gaza headquarters with other PLC lawmakers. He, meanwhile, noted that Palestinian leaders and officials had urged the kidnappers to keep the life of the abducted Israeli soldier safe.

    The aim is to reach an agreement and have an answer to the demands of releasing Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. The call on keeping the soldier alive and the release of prisoners is a humanitarian and legal call, said Bahar.

    He gave the Israeli government two options: either to respond to the demands of the kidnappers to release prisoners for freeing the soldier, or to gather information on the soldier through carrying out the ongoing operation that would cost Israel the soldier's life.

    Palestinian militants kidnapped one Israeli soldier and killed two others in an attack they carried out against an Israeli military post southeast of the Gaza Strip last Sunday. Two militants out of eight were also killed in the attack.

    Israel began launching a large-scale military operation "Summer Rains" into the Gaza Strip, in which its air forces destroyed the major power plant, major bridges and the office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya in Gaza.

    "We believe that responding to the kidnappers' demands is not easy for Israel," but "also the Palestinians will not easily make concessions and release the soldier for free, even if all the Palestinian people are eliminated," stressed Bahar. Enditem