Syria won't pressure Hamas to free IDF soldier

Syria will lean on Hamas to find a solution to a crisis sparked by the capture of an Israeli soldier only if Israel stops its attacks on Gaza, Syrian and Palestinian politicians said on Sunday.

The government has told visiting Arab officials that it will not put pressure on Hamas' exiled leadership to help free the soldier as long as Israeli raids on civilian and military targets in Gaza continue, they told Reuters. "The world has turned upside down for one Israeli prisoner of war, but Syria will not move unless the Israelis stop their aggression," said Suleiman Haddad, a member of parliament's Foreign Relations Committee. (Reuters)