Special report: Israel launches Gaza assault    

    DAMASCUS, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal insisted on Monday that Israel release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants.

    Mashaal, who is living in Damascus in exile, told a news conference that the Palestinians made consensus on "swapping the abducted Israeli soldier for prisoners held in the Zionist enemy's jails."

    He also said that the Israeli soldier, who was kidnapped on June 25 by three militant groups including Hamas' armed wing, would be treated as a "prisoner of war" and kept alive. "The laws of prisoners of war are applicable" in the case of the soldier and "our values require us to protect his life," he said.

    Israel, however, has repeatedly ruled out any negotiations with Hamas on releasing Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the captive 19-year-old Corporal Gilad Shalit.

    Mashaal said that the Jewish state would be "disillusioned" if it wanted to bring the soldier home through military operation.

He noted that Hamas supported a negotiated solution to the hostage matter, but the mediation efforts to solve the crisis by Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and European countries had been "blocked by Israeli obstinacy."

    In addition, the top Hamas leader rejected Israeli charge that Syria was responsible for the abduction and dismissed the Israeli threat to assassinate Hamas leaders as "nothing new". Israel has accused Damascus of supporting Palestinian militants behind the abduction of the Israeli soldier and threatened to kill Hamas leaders based in Syria including Mashaal.

As Israel launched a broad ground offensive in the Gaza Strip to free the kidnapped soldier on June 28, Israeli warplanes overflew a residence of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in northern Syria in a bid to press Damascus to secure the soldier's release.

    Syrian air defenses opened fire at the Israeli aircraft.   Enditem