VIDEO - In his first public address since Israel began its offensive into the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas on Friday said his government would not cave into Israeli demands but said he was working hard to end a five-day-old crisis with Israel.
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(VIDEO) Hamas government ministers, parliament members and activists arrested by Israeli forces operating in number of West Bank towns in what appears to be an attempt to ‘decapitate’ organization’s leadership; top Hamas members in Gaza go into hiding. Hamas spokesman: Arrests grave precedent, international crime and open declaration of war against Palestinian people |
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Though Haniyeh did not directly address Israel's demand that Palestinian militants hand over an abducted Israeli soldier, he implied that the government would not trade him for eight Cabinet ministers and 56 other Hamas officials arrested on Thursday.
"When they kidnapped the ministers they meant to hijack the government's position, but we say no positions will be hijacked, no governments will fall," he said.
A few hours before Haniyeh spoke, Israeli jet fighters destroyed
the offices of his interior minister in Gaza, intensifying an air invasion while delaying a broad ground offensive in hopes that pressure on the Hamas government will secure the release of the kidnapped soldier.
Haniyeh also said he is working hard to end the crisis.
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| IDF attacks Gaza Thursday night (Video: Reuters) |
Senior Hamas member Muhammad Nazal, a member of the organization’s leadership in Damascus, said that Israel was not serious about negotiations and is trying to play for time in order to locate the kidnapped soldier. “I believe that Mubarak, in his offer, meant for an offer according to which the prisoner (kidnapped soldier R.N.) will be released in exchange for prisoner.”
He added: “Israel is negotiating via fire. They are stalling for time until they can find the soldier through intelligence and then they will release him.”
Haniyeh in first public appearance in a week (Photo: Reuters)
The Air Force has struck more than 30 targets in Gaza in the past 24 hours, hitting roads, bridges and power plants. The army has also fired hundreds of artillery shells. The offensive is meant to pressure Hamas-linked militants to release Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, who was captured Sunday when Gaza militants tunneled under the border, attacking an Israeli outpost and killing two other soldiers.
While thousands of troops are massed along the Israel-Gaza border waiting for the go-ahead for a massive invasion into the crowded coastal area, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said militants had agreed to Shalit's conditional release, but Israel had not accepted the terms.
Israeli officials said
they did not know of such an agreement. But a senior government official, speaking on
condition of anonymity due to the secrecy of the diplomacy, said the planned ground offensive had been delayed due to a request by Egypt that mediators be given a chance to resolve the crisis.
AP contributed to this report
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