Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday ignored a deadline to begin releasing Palestinian prisoners and instead issued a veiled threat against Syria, vowing to strike "those who sponsor" the militants in the Gaza Strip who have seized a young Israeli soldier.

Olmert's comments signalled that a flurry of diplomacy throughout the region is still no closer to securing the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit.

The Palestinian militants holding Shalit angrily said they would not release any more information about the soldier after Israel ignored their ultimatum to begin releasing hundreds of prisoners early yesterday. But they said they would not kill the soldier, after earlier signals that he would be harmed.

Speaking at a business conference in southern Israel, Olmert repeated his long-standing refusal to negotiate with Shalit's captors. "We won't negotiate with terror elements and we won't let anyone believe that kidnapping is a tool to bring Israel to its knees," he said.

He told the audience he has ordered the army to push forward with efforts "to strike terrorists and those who sent them and those who sponsor them," an apparent reference to Syria. "None of them will be immune."

Since Shalit was captured in a cross-border raid on June 25, Israel has made it clear that it holds Syria and Hamas' Syrian-based leader, Khaled Mashaal, responsible. Last week, Israeli warplanes buzzed the summer residence of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Israeli officials also have implied that Mashaal is a target for assassination.

Israel last week launched a ground operation in Gaza, along with a campaign of air strikes, to pressure the ruling Hamas party to secure the release of Shalit.

Hamas' military wing and two allied groups the Popular Resistance Committees and the Army of Islam have claimed responsibility for the abduction.

The militants holding Shalit had set a 6 am deadline for Israel to begin releasing some 1,500 Palestinian prisoners in return for information about the soldier. The militants have given no details on Shalit's condition, though Israeli officials believe he suffered light wounds and is still alive.

After the deadline passed, a spokesman for the Army of Islam said Shalit's captors "have decided to freeze all contacts and close the files of this soldier."

In Gaza City, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a top Hamas official, called on Shalit's captors to protect the soldier and expressed hope for a peaceful resolution to the standoff.

"The government is exerting efforts with Palestinian, Arab and regional parties to end this case in the appropriate manner," Haniyeh said at the opening of a cabinet meeting.

Source: China Daily