Gaza Operation Updates
Charles Johnson
Wed Jul 5, 2006 at 3:33 pm PDT • Views: 207
The Hamas kidnappers say they’re ready to show flexibility and consider compromising, as long as all their demands are met.
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syria and Hamas have told mediators that the Islamic movement will show flexibility in a confrontation over a captured Israeli soldier if Israel accepts a prisoner swap, political sources said on Wednesday.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal also said at a meeting with a visiting Turkish official that Hamas was ready to resist an all-out Israeli attack on the Gaza strip but preferred a deal to end the crisis, the sources told Reuters.
“Meshaal said any solution must be based on a prisoner exchange. He did not say whether that exchange had to be simultaneous but indicated Hamas was flexible,” a Palestinian politicians familiar with the meeting told Reuters.
Meanwhile, Hamas continues firing rockets into Israel:
A Kassam rocket landed in Ashkelon’s southern Shimshon neighborhood shortly after 9:00 p.m. Wednesday, only a day after a Kassam rocket landed within the Ashkelon city limits for the first time.
And a car full of Al Jazeera reporters mysteriously explodes:
Conflicting reports gave different causes to an explosion that struck a car carrying reporters from the Al-Jazeera satellite TV channel on Wednesday night in Beit Lahiya.
According to witnesses, there were apparently some injuries, and ambulances were on the way to the scene.
The IDF had no immediate comment, except to point out that it was uncertain what caused the explosion.
Frank says: