Australian's son killed in West Bank

A life wasted so young, I would think that you should have kept him in Australia, he might have been able to live his life.

From staff writers and agencies
June 29, 2006

Kidnapped ... 18-year-old Israeli Eliahu Asheri / Reuters A BODY recovered today by Israeli troops in the West Bank belonged to a 18-year-old Jewish settler kidnapped by Palestinian militants, Israeli military sources confirmed today.

The sources said Eliahu Asheri was killed by a single bullet in the brain after being kidnapped by Palestinian militants in the West Bank.

His body was then buried near the village of Beitunia, not far from the West Bank political capital of Ramallah and where his body was uncovered by Israeli troops overnight.

Yesterday, an armed Palestinian group displayed a photocopy of Asheri's identity papers and threatened to kill him unless Israel halted an offensive in the Gaza Strip launched in a bid to secure the release of a kidnapped soldier.

The Australian Jewish News reported this week that Eliyahu's father, Yitro Asheri, is originally from Adelaide. It said he converted to Judaism 20 years ago and moved to Israel shortly after.

Eliyahu had been kidnapped over the weekend by the Popular Resistance Committees.

The group issued a statement today in Gaza saying it had executed the 18-year-old.

Map: Gaza »

Israel rounded up Hamas cabinet ministers and stepped up its Gaza offensive today, tightening pressure on Palestinians that threatens to spiral into regional conflict.
The sharp escalation in hostilities has caused renewed international concern over the Middle East and UN chief Kofi Annan led calls for restraint to ensure the conflict does not spread after Israel sent warplanes over Syria.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned he was prepared to take "extreme measures" to rescue the captive soldier after launching the country's biggest military operation since pulling out of Gaza in September last year.

Israel also delivered a blunt warning to its archfoe Damascus, the base for several top Hamas militants held responsible by the Jewish state for the kidnapping of 19-year-old Gilad Shalit.

"Regimes that support terrorism are the ones playing with the Palestinian people's destiny," Defence Minister Amir Peretz said, pointing the finger at Iran and Syria.

In the West Bank, Israeli troops rounded up eight ministers and 20 lawmakers of the Hamas-led Palestinian Government in a vast military operation overnight, Palestinian security officials said.

Some were blindfolded and handcuffed as they were arrested, the sources said.

A column of about 35 tanks, armoured vehicles and bulldozers also rolled into northern Gaza under cover of darkness early today, the day after the launch of the ground and air assault on the territory.

Witnesses reported sporadic artillery fire in the area as combat aircraft flew overhead while troops and tanks remained on the ground in southern Gaza, where Shalit is believed to be held.

Many parts of the territory, already facing a dire humanitarian crisis because of a cut in international funds, are without electricity after war planes struck a power plant and knocked out three bridges.

Hamas, boycotted by Israel and the West as a terrorist group, condemned the arrests as "an open war against the Government, the people and Palestinian legitimacy which aims to destroy the government."

Mr Peretz insisted that Israel had no intention of retaking Gaza as the international community urged both sides to show restraint, although the US clearly blamed the Hamas for the troubles.

"We have no intention of getting bogged down any more in the swamps of this cursed territory," he said, blaming the "total impotency" of the Palestinian Authority over the hostage crisis.

Yesterday's rollout was the first major ground incursion into Gaza since Israel pulled out of the impoverished coastal area last year in a highly controversial operation that ended a 38-year occupation.

Palestinians have warned the offensive would only trigger more bloodshed, with Hamas slamming it as "military madness" and Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas branding it collective punishment.

An armed group loosely affiliated to Abbas's Fatah party claimed to have fired a rocket with a chemical warhead at Israel Thursday but the army said it had no such reports.

Israel's assaults followed the failure of mediation efforts to free Cpl Shalit after his seizure in an attack Sunday that killed two soldiers and was claimed by three groups including Hamas fighters and the PRC to avenge the killing of Palestinian civilians in Israeli strikes.

White House spokesman Tony Snow backed Israel's "right to defend itself" and blamed Hamas for the incursion, but urged Israel to ensure "innocent civilians are not harmed."

Mr Annan called regional leaders and appealed for restraint to ensure the conflict did not spread across the region.

"Of course it is understandable that they would want to go after those who kidnapped their soldier but it has to be done in such a way that civilian populations are not made to suffer," Mr Annan said.

Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniya condemned Washington for "giving the green light to aggression," which he demanded Israel stop before the situation worsened.

Palestinian groups have vowed not to release Cpl Shalit until all Palestinian women and children are freed from Israeli jails, a demand rejected by Mr Olmert who then ordered a force of about 5000 troops to mass on the Gaza border.

Amnesty International called for all hostages to be released and for "an end to the wanton destruction and collective punishment" by Israel.

It said the destruction of bridges and electricity networks "have left half the population of the Gaza Strip without electricity and have reportedly also adversely affected the supply of water."

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