Report: IDF kills one of Shalit kidnappers

Report: IDF kills one of Shalit kidnappers

According to Israel Radio, Ashraf el-Muashar had been a senior operative in Hamas' military wing. The report, which has not been confirmed, came on the heels of a recent order issued to the IDF by the diplomatic echelon to begin drawing up plans for a widespread operation in the Gaza Strip in an effort to pressure Hamas into releasing Shalit and to prevent the terror buildup in the Palestinian territory.

With Kassams still being fired at the western Negev and Hamas claiming to be building up an army, the IDF has set in motion preparations for a massive ground incursion into the Gaza Strip, one that senior officers in the Southern Command claim will be "larger than ever before."

On Tuesday, in a sign of what is in store for the IDF, soldiers from the Beduin Reconnaissance Battalion, who were operating along the Philadelphia Route for the first time since the Gaza disengagement, uncovered two tunnels used to smuggle weapons into Gaza from Egypt. One of the tunnels was 12 meters deep.

The IDF has found 15 smuggling tunnels since the end of June, when the army intensified activity in the Gaza Strip following the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit.

Palestinian Authority officials warned Israel on Tuesday against launching a military operation in Gaza, while Hamas announced that its men said they were prepared to thwart any attempt by the IDF to invade the area.

"Such an attack will have grave consequences on security and stability in the entire region," said Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. He said the PA has appealed to the US to intervene with Israel to prevent a large-scale attack in the Gaza Strip.

The armed wing of Hamas, Izaddin al-Kassam, announced that it had completed its preparations for a possible confrontation with the IDF.

A spokesman for the group warned that "the fighters of the al-Kassam will not have mercy on the cowardly [Israeli] soldiers. Your destroyed tanks will become the eternal testimony of your failure and of your running away from the Gaza Strip."

Hamas leaders denied Israeli charges that their movement had smuggled large amounts of weapons into the Gaza Strip, including advanced anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles. IDF officers have raised fears that advanced Russian-made Kornet anti-tank missiles had been smuggled into Gaza.

"These charges are meant to provide an excuse for Israel to invade the Gaza Strip and launch a new aggression on our people," said a senior Hamas official in Gaza City.

He said Hamas has received warnings from some Arab countries that Israel was planning to send ground forces into the Gaza Strip in the coming days in response to the continued rocket attacks on Israel and the failure of efforts to release Shalit.

Meanwhile overnight Tuesday, IDF forces killed two Palestinians near the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources reported.

Hamas identified one of the Palestinians, who were killed by IDF tank fire, as Zahir Otomony, a Hamas operative.

The identity of the other Palestinian was unclear.

Earlier Tuesday, four Palestinians were killed in two separate IDF operations in the West Bank. In the afternoon, soldiers shot and killed an Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigades operative and his cousin, according to Palestinian doctors and security officials.

Palestinian sources said that the soldiers involved in the shooting were part of an IDF undercover force and the IDF confirmed that a special unit had fired on two gunmen in a car after they refused to halt when ordered. One of the gunmen, Adel Abu Reish, was a high-ranking Fatah operative that had carried out shooting attacks and planted bombs in the area, the army said.

Earlier in the day, IDF soldiers fired at two Palestinians who were throwing stones at a military force, killing one and seriously wounding the other, Palestinian sources said.

Also on Tuesday morning, a Palestinian terrorist who infiltrated the Mitzpe Yitzhar outpost and tried to set fire to one of the homes was caught by a local security patrol after a brief chase. The man was detained by security forces for interrogation.