Special report: Israel launches Gaza
assault
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Israeli army tank move in northern Gaza
Strip Saturday. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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GAZA,
Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Three Palestinian military groups, taking an Israeli soldier
hostage in Gaza, on Sunday threatened to kill the hostage if Israel does not
stop a large-scale operation in the northern Gaza Strip.
"We would tell the state of occupation that if it
continues with its crimes against our people in Beit Hanoun and the entire Gaza
Strip, the life of the captive soldier would be in danger," a masked spokesmen
for the captors read the warning in a news conference held in Gaza on Sunday
afternoon.
Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit was kidnapped by three
militant groups on June 25 during a cross-border attack against an Israeli army
post in the southeastern Gaza Strip, sparking a comprehensive offensive against
the strip three days later.
Ezzeldine al-Qassam Brigades, a military wing of the
Palestinian ruling Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), the Popular Resistance
Committees and the Army of Islam had jointly claimed responsibility for the
attack and the kidnapping of the soldiers.
Israeli army has intensified its ground and air
offensive on the Gaza Strip by launching an operation code-named "Autumn Clouds"
since Nov. 1, killing 48 Palestinians and wounding more than 200others so far.
Israeli military said the aim of the offensive is to
prevent Palestinian militants from launching homemade rockets from the Gaza
Strip at Israel.
Hamas: Israeli offensive to endanger
captive soldier's life
GAZA, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- A Hamas official
warned on Sunday that the ongoing Israeli offensive in northern Gaza Strip could
endanger the life of an Israeli soldier held by Palestinian militant groups.
However, Salah al-Bardawil, the spokesman of Hamas
lawmakers, said that Hamas was very keen to keep the soldier alive and
understood his life "has significance for Palestinian prisoners and people." Full story
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