Israel on Saturday rejected Palestinian demands to free 1,000 prisoners as its warplanes pounded the Gaza Strip for a fourth straight night in a deepening crisis over a captured soldier. The regional fallout from the standoff also widened with Washington backing its key ally in holding arch-foe Syria at least partially responsible for the escalation in the Middle East. The three Palestinian militant groups which seized 19-year-old Corporal Gilad Shalit six days ago issued a new demand that Israel free 1,000 prisoners. The Popular Resistance Committees, the armed wing of the governing Hamas movement and the previously unknown Army of Islam, said they were seeking the release of “1,000 Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and other prisoners”. It said all detained Palestinian militant leaders as well as elderly and sick detainees should be freed, and reiterated an earlier demand for the release of women and juvenile prisoners. The statement also urged Israel to end its military reprisals in the Palestinian territories.
But Israel rejected the demands for release of Palestinian prisoners. “Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been clear on this point. There will be no negotiations with the kidnappers. If Gilad Shalit is not freed, Israel will do what it necessary,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev.