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Terrorists Give Israel Ultimatum

The three Palestinian terrorist groups holding hostage 19-year-old Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit have given the Jewish state until 6am local time on Tuesday, July 4, to meet their demands or suffer the consequences. Given the modus operandi of Hamas, it is likely that Hamas will kill the soldier, captured in a raid after an attack within Israel itself that was carried out by terrorists who had tunneled into Israel near the Gaza border. Israel has announced that it will not give into extortion, and Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz has noted that Jerusalem holds Syria responsible for the fate of Cpl. Shalit.

Khaled Meshaal, the leader of Hamas since Israel assassinated Sheikh Ahmed Yassin a few few years ago, is based in Syria. Last week, Israeli Air Force jets buzzed a palace of Syrian President Bashar Assad at Latakia, Syria, as a form of exerting pressure on Damascus to get the terrorists to return the Israeli hostage. Also last week, Palestinian terrorists kidnapped and murdered a Jewish settler, after demanding that Israel leave the Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces have been operating for almost a week.

The kidnapping of Corporal Shalit has also given Israel the opportunity to take actions to stop the launching of Kassam rockets into Israel proper. Almost daily, Kassam rockets have been fired into Israel, hitting civilian population centers, and residents of towns near the Gaza Strip have vociferously protested to the government in Jerusalem to do something about the rocket attacks.