PALESTINIANS ACCUSE ISRAEL OF CLEANSING

Palestinians accuse Israel of ethnic cleansing MAR 19,09

JERUSALEM (AFP) – The Palestinian Authority accused Israel on Thursday of ethnic cleansing after it delivered dozens of eviction orders to residents of annexed, mostly Arab east Jerusalem.We are witnessing an unprecedented escalation on the part of the occupation government and what they call the Jerusalem municipality against Palestinian presence in Jerusalem,said Nabil Abu Rudeina.The spokesman of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas referred specifically to the destruction of dozens of homes and eviction orders to demolish dozens more.

It is an organised campaign of ethnic cleansing,he added

Last month Palestinian officials and residents told AFP that Israel had ordered hundreds of Palestinians to leave their homes in annexed east Jerusalem, warning their houses are illegal.According to Hatem Abdel Kader, an official responsible for Jerusalem affairs in the Palestinian government, 1,500 people are currently living in threatened houses in the Al-Bustan neighbourhood abutting the Old City.He said several of the houses served with demolition orders were built before 1967, when Israel captured east Jerusalem from Jordan during the Six Day War but that numerous extensions have been built since.Israel, which considers the whole of Jerusalem its eternal, undivided capital, rarely grants building permits to Arab residents of east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want to make the capital of their promised state.

The eviction orders have also triggered United Nations concerns, according to Richard Miron, spokesman for the UN Special Coordinator's Office in Jerusalem.We are very concerned about continuing actions by Israel in east Jerusalem, including threats of further evictions and house demolitions in several Palestinian neighbourhoods in the city,Miron told AFP.These actions harm ordinary Palestinians, heighten tensions in the city, undermine efforts to build trust and promote negotiations, and are contrary to international law and Israel?s commitments,he said.We urge Israel to heed the calls of the international community to halt these unacceptable actions.

Palestinian reconciliation talks break up, no deal MAR 19,09 By SALAH NASRAWI, Associated Press Writer

CAIRO – Egyptian-mediated talks between the rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah broke up Thursday, without a deal on a national unity government, participants said.

The break-up of the talks came just two days after negotiations in Cairo between Hamas and Israel over a prisoner swap ran aground.The deadlock in both negotiating tracks raises questions about plans by the international community to rebuild parts of Gaza, devastated in Israel's recent military offensive against Hamas. Gaza's borders have been virtually sealed since Hamas seized the territory by force in June 2007, and international aid groups have said reconstruction of the war damage is impossible without open borders.Israeli officials repeatedly have said the Gaza blockade would not be lifted until militants there free Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit, who was taken captive in 2006. But the failure to reach a prisoner swap deal — Schalit in exchange for 1,200 Palestinian prisoners in Israel — could also hamper efforts to cement a truce between Israel and Hamas, leaving the danger of another sudden round of fighting.Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said excessive demands by Hamas had brought the Egyptian-mediated prisoner swap talks to deadlock. He said efforts would continue, but there appeared to be no chance for a deal before he leaves office by the end of this month.The breakdown in talks also come as Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu is putting together his government, which is expected to be a hard-line team with less inclination to meet Hamas demands.In the Palestinian unity talks, Hamas and its moderate Fatah rivals were trying to agree on the terms of a joint coalition for an interim unity government that would set the stage for elections by January.The key sticking point was the program of the new government. Another unresolved issue is to what extent Hamas would abide by past accords with Israel.

Fatah negotiators said the new government must commit to the program of the PLO, which recognized Israel in 1993. Hamas refuses to recognize Israel, and only wants the new government to "respect" the PLO commitments. Earlier this week, Egyptian envoys sounded out U.S. and European diplomats about whether they would be willing to accept something less than a commitment to the PLO agreements.After the break-up Thursday, Hamas official Fawzi Barhoum reiterated that his group will not agree to commit to the accords or recognize Israel.Samir Ghosheh, a negotiator for a tiny PLO faction, said Egyptian mediators told the Palestinian representatives on Thursday to pack their bags. The Egyptian hosts did not set a date for a new round, he said. Negotiations had begun last week.Personally, I don't think there will be a resumption of talks unless there are clear indications that the problems will be solved, said Ghosheh.However, Fatah's Azzam al-Ahmed said the talks will continue after an Arab summit at the end of March.

Sarkozy pledges to help free captive Israel soldier MAR 19,09

JERUSALEM (AFP) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy has pledged to pursue efforts to secure the release of captured Israeli-French soldier Gilad Shalit, in a letter on Thursday to his parents.France demands the release of Gilad and will pursue relentlessly its persuasive efforts among all who speak, or can speak, to the kidnappers of your son, Sarkozy said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.Allow me to express anew my solidarity in the face of this ordeal, as well as my admiration for... your dignity,Sarkozy added.Shalit, who marks 1,000 days in captivity on Saturday, was seized by Gaza militants, including the Islamist Hamas, in a cross-border raid in June 2006.His family has held vigil in a tent pitched outside the Jerusalem home of outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to press for his release since March 8.On Tuesday the outgoing cabinet rejected a final offer from Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, for a long-mooted prisoner exchange that would involve Shalit.

Solve water problems before peace deal: Abbas MAR 19,09

ISTANBUL (AFP) – Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas accused Israel on Thursday of forcing Palestinians to live in chronic water scarcity and declared a rightful share of water should not be tied to a peace deal.In a message read at the World Water Forum in Istanbul, the Palestinian Authority president said Israel's unilateral control over rivers and aquifers meant scarce water resources were not being shared equitably as required by international law.Palestinians had four times less water per capita than Israelis living in Israel, a consumption level that fell far below the World Health Organization's guidelines for minimum daily access to water, Abbas said.

The reason for this disparity has nothing to do with lifestyle between Palestinians and Israelis -- for when it comes to water all human beings have the same needs -- but due to Israel's control and inequitable distribution to the Palestinians,Abbas said.It is with dismay that I see 9,000 Israeli settlers in the Jordan Valley utilise one-quarter of the water that the entire Palestinian population in the West Bank utilises,he said.It is also with dismany that we witnessed Israel's systematic de-development and destruction of Gaza's water infrastructure, where today only 10-20 percent of the water there is drinkable.

Abbas said the situation is not only unjust, but unnecessary.

Palestinians should not be forced to wait until a peace agreement is reached before (they are) allowed (their) rightful share of the transboundary water resources. Water is an essential human necessity that should not be subject to the dictates of a single party or used as a tool of control.The statement was read at a press conference by Shaddad Attili, head of the Palestinian Water Authority.Attili said Israel uses 90 percent of transboundary water resources, and Israelis have per-capita water consumption of 348 litres (76 gallons) per day; the Palestinians are alloted the remaining 10 percent, and have daily consumption of 78 litres (17.6 gallons) per day, compared to WHO recommendations of at least 100 litres (22 gallons) a day.

Abbas also said the Palestinian Authority, upon gaining statehood, would become party to a 1997 UN pact on water supplies that cross international boundaries.This document -- the Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses -- requires a country that controls an aquifer or watershed that straddles an international boundary to ensure other parties have equitable use of the water.Only 16 countries have ratified the convention so far; 35 are needed before it becomes international law. France this month announced its intention to ratify.In the Palestinian-Israeli case, the struggle over water supplies pertains to the basin of the Jordan River and a coastal aquifer that stretches underneath Gaza.The World Water Forum has gathered more than 27,000 policymakers, corporate executives, water specialists and activists in a broad conference focused on the globe's worsening problems of freshwater. The seven-day event winds up on Sunday.

Israel seizes Hamas political leaders by Hossam Ezzedine – Thu Mar 19, 8:50 am ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) – Israel launched a new crackdown on Hamas on Thursday, rounding up top leaders in the West Bank after the failure of efforts to secure the release of a soldier held by the Islamist rulers of the Gaza Strip.Security forces seized 12 senior Hamas leaders in pre-dawn raids in the occupied West Bank, including four members of the Palestinian legislative council, Hamas and the army said.The Islamists denounced the action as blackmail following the collapse of Egyptian-brokered efforts to reach an agreement on an Israel-Hamas prisoner swap.The Palestinian Authority, headed by Hamas's political foes Fatah, also slammed the arrests and called on the international community to intervene.These men have been the leaders of the ongoing effort to restore the administrative branch of the Hamas terror organisation in the region, while attempting to strengthen the power and influence of Hamas,an Israeli military spokeswoman said.Thirty-six Hamas MPs have been in jail since a major crackdown in the West Bank that followed the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Gaza militants including Hamas fighters in a deadly cross-border raid in June 2006.

On Saturday, Shalit will have been held captive for 1,000 days.

Among those arrested were Nasseredin al-Shaer, who was deputy premier in the short-lived Hamas government formed in March 2006, and two senior Hamas officials in the West Bank, Raafat Nassif and Adnan Asfur, the group said.Western-backed Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad condemned the arrests and called on the international community to intervene to pressure Israel to immediately free all members of Palestinian parliament whom they are holding.A spokesman for president Mahmud Abbas, whose forces were booted out of Gaza by Hamas in June 2007 after deadly factional fighting, blasted the arrests as kidnappings aimed at torpedoing reconciliation talks under way between Fatah and Hamas in Cairo.The arrests follow the failure this week of the Egyptian-mediated negotiations for a prisoner swap that would entail the release of Shalit in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israel.The collapse of the talks led Israel to examine ways of getting tougher with the Islamists, including imposing harsher conditions for Hamas detainees.Among the steps being considered are limiting cash transfers to prisoners, restricting their access to television and radio, reducing visiting rights and opportunities for education as well as limiting contact between the prisoners.Israel is also considering tightening the crippling blockade it has imposed on the Gaza Strip since Hamas seized power in June 2007.Senior Hamas leader Salah al-Bardawil claimed the West Bank arrests aimed at pressuring the Islamist group to cave in to Israel's demands in the prisoner swap negotiations.It is a flagrant attempt to put pressure on Hamas and force it to make concessions and accept an exchange of prisoners without Israel having to pay the price,Bardawil said in a statement published on the Hamas website.

This blackmail attempt is destined to failure.

More than 11,000 Palestinian prisoners are held in Israeli jails, including thousands of members of Hamas, which Israel -- like the European Union and the United States -- considers a terrorist organisation. Hamas won 74 of the Palestinian legislative assembly's 132 seats in the January 2006 election when it trounced Abbas's secular Fatah faction but its government was boycotted by the West and attempts to form unity governments failed.The human rights group Public Committee Against Torture in Israel called on the justice minister to shun steps that would worsen prison conditions, branding any such move unlawful collective punishment.

Israel's Barak weighs joining Netanyahu cabinet Wed Mar 18, 3:51 pm ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak urged his centre-left Labour party on Wednesday to again consider joining a government led by hawkish prime minister designate Benjamin Netanyahu.In a stark about-face from a declaration 10 days ago, Barak asked Labour's secretary general to hold a party vote to decide whether to join the next government.The security, political, financial and social challenges the country faces require Labour to seriously consider Netanyahu's invitation, Barak's office quoted him as saying.The majority of Israel's citizens and Labour voters want to see the party take part in the country's leadership, said Barak, himself a former prime minister.According to Israeli news reports, Netanyahu offered Barak the chance to stay on as defence minister.

The move was likely to meet stiff opposition from the Labour membership.

The former chief of staff declared earlier this month that he would not join a Netanyahu government after the right-wing Likud leader reached a deal with the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, under which its controversial leader Avigdor Lieberman would become foreign minister.Labour suffered its worst ever showing in the February 10 election, winning just 13 of the 120 in parliament and slipping into fourth place after the centrist Kadima party of Netanyahu rival and outgoing Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, his own Likud and Yisrael Beitenu.Immediately after last month's election rout, Barak had said Labour would join the opposition, but he has since held several rounds of talks with Netanyahu, to the anger of many of his own party's supporters.

Israeli dad blames Olmert over failure to free son Wed Mar 18, 2:45 pm ET

JERUSALEM – The father of an Israeli soldier held captive in Gaza for nearly three years blames outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for failing to free his son.Noam Schalit said his son, Sgt. Gilad Schalit, was captured while Olmert was in office, so his family expected Olmert to bring him home. But, the father said,we were wrong.

Talks between Israel and Hamas over a prisoner exchange that would have brought Schalit home broke down this week with both sides blaming the other.Noam Schalit spoke at a protest tent the family set up in front of Olmert's residence. He said they would dismantle the tent Saturday night, marking 1,000 days since the soldier was captured.Olmert is expected to step down, possibly later this week.

Hamas not budging in Israel, Fatah talks By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer – Wed Mar 18, 11:32 am ET

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip – An opening of Gaza's blockaded borders, access to billions of dollars in foreign aid, a popularity boost — Hamas would have much to gain by working out a prisoner swap with Israel and a power-sharing arrangement with its West Bank rivals.Instead, Gaza's Islamic militant rulers have been sticking to their demands, even though that would seem to be hurting their interests. But some analysts suggest that Hamas believes time is on its side and that Israel, along with moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the West, will eventually give in.They are not acting like people who are negotiating from a position of weakness, said Robert Blecher, an analyst with the International Crisis Group think tank.Egypt has been mediating parallel sets of talks involving Hamas — with Israel on exchanging a captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Schalit, for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and with Abbas' Fatah movement on a transitional government that would pave the way for new elections.Hamas wants Israel to release 450 prisoners with lengthy terms for Schalit, and resists demands by Abbas that the unity government commit to the Palestine Liberation Organization program, including its recognition of Israel.In both cases, Hamas is refusing to make concessions that could lead to a lifting of the Gaza closure, imposed by Israel and Egypt after Hamas' violent takeover there in 2007.

Hamas is sticking to its demands,spokesman Ayman Taha said after the failure of the prisoner talks Tuesday, even adding a threat that Hamas would try to capture more Israeli soldiers. On Wednesday, Hamas' military wing said it might harden demands in future talks.Hamas' defiance comes, in part, from surviving the border blockade and Israel's recent military offensive in Gaza, which served to emphasize how hard it would be to bring Hamas down.Ending Gaza's isolation has become more urgent since the war — reconstruction requires open borders and huge sums in foreign aid, already promised by donor countries.But several Hamas officials said the group is in no hurry.

On the prisoner swap, Hamas expects to see its demands met if it waits long enough.

We believe the occupation (Israel) is going to retreat,said Osama Muzini, a Hamas spokesman.In the final stage of negotiations over prisoners this weekend, outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered to free 320 prisoners of the 450 Hamas was demanding.Compromise on the prisoners might be seen in Gaza as inadequate compensation for the hardship that befell the territory after Hamas-allied militants captured Schalit in a cross-border raid in 2006. Israel closed Gaza's borders, bombed Gaza's only power station and unleashed military strikes that killed hundreds.Hamas is also under pressure from the families of prisoners not to leave any lifers behind.

Getting the prisoners out is more important than open borders, 70-year-old Khadije Salameh said Tuesday, flanked in her living room in the town of Khan Younis by the gold-framed posters of her imprisoned sons Hassan and Akram.Hassan Salameh is among the 11 prisoners Israel says it will never free. Arrested in 1995, he is serving 48 life terms for masterminding several suicide bombings that killed dozens of Israelis.

The release of the 11 names and Olmert's pledge not to lift the blockade without Schalit will tie the hands of his designated successor, hard-line Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Hamas could have a tough time getting a better deal from Netanyahu. The deadlock complicates the international community's plans for Gaza reconstruction. We are not able to bring anything in for rebuilding Gaza until the case of the Israeli soldier Schalit is resolved, and that's what the Israelis are telling us,Karen Abu Zayd, who runs the major U.N. aid agency in Gaza, said Tuesday.

Donor countries are ready to give billions of dollars to fix the war damage, including repairing or rebuilding 15,000 homes, but can't do so without open borders and won't give the money to Hamas. The purpose of the Palestinian unity talks is to form an interim government made up of both rival factions until new elections are held by January 2010. Such an arrangement would let funds start flowing, but would force Hamas to soften its opposition to Israel. And Hamas can't afford to compromise on its principles, especially with the possibility of elections in less than a year, said Hani Basoos, a Gaza analyst now based in Europe. Hamas is committed to Israel's destruction, in contrast to Fatah, which seeks a Palestinian state alongside Israel. An implicit recognition of Israel would also undercut Hamas' main argument in any election campaign that Fatah's 16 years of peace talks with Israel have been a waste of time.Hamas has shown that its stubbornness is not a negotiating tactic, Basoos said.If they wanted to compromise, they would have done it last year or the year before,he said.It is a waiting game.

Report: Assad would like to meet Obama Wed Mar 18, 8:51 am ET

ROME – Syrian President Bashar Assad has expressed worry over what he sees as Israeli society's turn to the right, according to a newspaper interview published Wednesday.

Assad also said he would like to meet President Barack Obama, the Rome daily La Repubblica reported.Expectations for Obama are high following the administration of George W. Bush, Assad said, according to the newspaper. He was quoted as saying Obama needs to restore American credibility, and his first steps are encouraging.The expectations are great for a new language signaling respect toward different cultures and helping ease tensions, especially religious tensions, caused by Bush when he spoke of crusades,Assad was quoted as saying.Obama has pledged to deliver a major speech in a Muslim nation early in his presidency.Asked if he would like to meet the new U.S. president, Assad said: Yes, in principle, it would be a very positive signal. But I'm not after a souvenir photo. I hope I can see him to talk.Assad said that, while in theory he could envision a resumption of negotiations with Israel, he views the possibility as moving further away. Israel will soon have a new government with hard-line Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu at the helm.I'm not worried at the thought of Netanyahu, but by Israeli society's turning right, as reflected by Netanyahu's rise,he was quoted as saying.That's the biggest obstacle to peace.

Netanyahu working to build broad coalition: MP Wed Mar 18, 4:44 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu is persisting with efforts to form a broad-based coalition, a deputy with his right-wing Likud party said on Wednesday.There are differences between (centrist party) Kadima and Likud, but we want to form as large a government as possible and contacts to that end continue,Gilad Erdan told public radio.Kadima leader and outgoing Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has repeatedly rejected Netanyahu's offers to join his coalition.

Netanyahu, charged with forming a government after the February 10 election, is hoping to form a cabinet by the end of this week to avoid seeking a two-week extension that will give him until April 3 to cobble together a union.That goal however looks increasingly unlikely as he has so far signed just one coalition agreement, with the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party.Another senior Likud official told AFP on condition of anonymity that Netanyahu wants to present his government for a Knesset vote on Monday.Netanyahu is widely thought to prefer a broad-based coalition that will have a better chance of surviving the tumultuous world of Israeli politics.Although his Likud party won only 27 seats in the February vote -- one less than Kadima -- he was tasked with forming the cabinet because he was thought to have a better chance at rallying support of at least 61 MPs needed for a coalition in the 120-member parliament.Right-wing parties together have 65 seats in parliament -- Likud 27, Yisrael Beitenu 15, the ultra-Orthodox Shas 11, with three other religious and far-right parties holding 12.

Hamas members stopped from smuggling cash to Gaza By ASHRAF SWEILAM, Associated Press Writer – Tue Mar 17, 3:23 pm ET

AFP CAIRO – Two Hamas officials returning from Egypt were caught trying to cross the Gaza border Tuesday with nearly $850,000 stuffed into candy tins, an Egyptian security official said.Gaza's Hamas rulers are dependent on the smuggling of cash and goods to keep their government afloat because the coastal territory has been subject to an embargo since the Islamic militant group took control there in June 2007.The two Hamas members were in Egypt with a delegation taking part in reconciliation talks with rival Palestinian factions. The Egypt-mediated talks have so far failed to produce an agreement on the formation of a unity government that would include Hamas and the more moderate Fatah movement that it ousted from Gaza.In response to the Hamas takeover of Gaza, Israel and Egypt have kept the territory's borders sealed to all but a trickle of aid and supplies, forcing Hamas to smuggle cash across the border.The Hamas officials stopped Tuesday were traveling in a bus carrying members of different Palestinian factions involved in the talks.A search of the bus at the border turned up the tins of sweets stuffed with euro454,000 and $260,000 in cash instead of candy, said an Egyptian security official. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.Under Egyptian law, it is illegal to leave the country with more than $10,000 in cash. Authorities also confiscated two generators, a night vision scope and mobile phones, the official said.

Hamas will be allowed to deposit the money into an account in Egypt, but likely won't be able to access the funds from Gaza. Arab banks have generally refused to transfer money to Gaza for fear of running afoul of the United States, which considers Hamas a terrorist organization.The two men stopped Tuesday were not arrested and denied knowing what was in the candy tins, saying they were just told to carry the goods into Gaza by Hamas leaders in Egypt, the official said.There was no immediate comment from Hamas.In February, Hamas members were caught with suitcases containing $9 million and euro2 million in cash.

U.S. says Iran increasing activity in Latin America Tue Mar 17, 2:58 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Iran is increasing its activity in Latin America and the Caribbean, including actions aimed at supporting the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a top U.S. military commander said on Tuesday.Navy Admiral James Stavridis, who oversees U.S. military interests in the region as head of U.S. Southern Command, also said Hezbollah was linked to drug-trafficking in Colombia.We have seen... an increase in a wide level of activity by the Iranian government in this region,Stavridis told the Senate Armed Services Committee.That is a concern principally because of the connections between the government of Iran, which is a state sponsor of terrorism, and Hezbollah,he said.The U.S. State Department lists the Lebanese-based political and military movement as a terrorist organization.Stavridis said Hezbollah activities in South America have been concentrated particularly in the border region between Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, but also in Colombia.We have been seeing in Colombia a direct connection between Hezbollah activity and narco-trafficking activity, the commander added, without providing specifics.Colombia said last October that it had smashed a drug and money-laundering ring suspected of shipping funds to Hezbollah.Hezbollah has denied links to drugs and money-laundering and described allegations as part of a propaganda campaign aimed at harming its image.

President Barack Obama's administration has sought to move toward dialogue with Tehran, despite sharp differences on several topics including Iran's nuclear program. Iran says it only wants to generate power while the Washington and its allies accuse Tehran of trying to build a nuclear bomb.Stavridis is the latest U.S. defense official to express concerns about Iranian influence in Latin America, where the left-wing governments in Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Bolivia have all become allies of Iran in recent years.In January, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the same Senate panel he was more worried about Iranian meddling than he was about Russia's activities in Latin America.(Reporting by David Morgan, editing by Alan Elsner)

Portugal calls for EU pressure on Israel Tue Mar 17, 2:46 pm ET

LISBON (AFP) – Portugal on Tuesday urged the European Union to review ties with Israel if the Jewish state did not display its commitment to the Middle East peace process.During 2008 we did not witness relevant progress on critical issues like settlements or movement and access, by Israel, Foreign Minister Luis Amado wrote in a letter to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.On settlements, for example, we have seen precisely the opposite. This situation can not last longer, as we risk losing the moderate Arab camp,he said.Today, we hope to see a halt of the settlement expansion and a clear commitment to the peace process, or we will need to reassess this question. This needs to be clearly said to our Israeli friends, Amado added.

The minister pointed out that in December 2008 we decided to upgrade our relations with Israel,and added that since then the Palestinian Authority had demonstrated more willingness to adhere to the commitments at the Annapolis peace conference in the United States.Solana said Monday the bloc was prepared to work with Israel if it accepted a two-state solution.

Israel says Gaza blockade goes on until soldier freed Tue Mar 17, 12:44 pm ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel will not ease its blockade of the Gaza Strip until captured soldier Gilad Shalit is freed by the enclave's Hamas Islamist rulers, an Israeli political source said on Tuesday after talks with Hamas stalled.The crossings ... are operating at a minimum to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the source said after an Israeli cabinet meeting.And they (the crossings) will remain so until Gilad Shalit is released.