Israel has sealed off the Gaza Strip while seeking to secure the safe return of an Israeli soldier abducted on Sunday.
“The Gaza Strip is closed by sea and by land. No one will enter and no one will leave,” Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday. Olmert said this is only the first in a series of steps that Israel will consider to stop terrorism.
Israeli forces are currently deployed on the edge of the Gaza Strip preparing for a possible military operation against terror organizations and groups affiliated with Hamas. The operation has been put on hold while Israel tries to secure the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit through diplomatic channels.
Shalit was captured on Sunday during a joint operation of Hamas, the Popular Resistance Committees and a largely unknown organization called the Islamic Army. Two Israeli soldiers and three armed Palestinians were killed in the attack and during the ensuing crossfire.
The groups have issued a joint message demanding Israel release all Palestinian females and males under the age of eighteen prisoners in exchange – not for Shalit himself, but for information about him. Olmert ruled out any deal of such nature. “It’s not a matter of negotiations, it’s not a matter of bargaining,” Olmert said in a speech on Monday.
Olmert reiterated Israel’s stand that it holds the Palestinian Authority responsible for the incident.
Israel will do all in its power to ensure Shalit’s safe release, he said. “There will be no immunity for anyone connected in any way to the kidnapping and imprisonment of soldier Gilad Shalit.”