Militants: No More Info on Israeli Soldier

Israeli military armored vehicles drive towards the Gaza Strip from a gathering point near Kibbutz Mefalsim, southern Israel, just outside the Gaza Strip early Monday, July 3, 2006. At daybreak Monday, a small force of Israeli tanks entered northern Gaza, but the military said it was a "limited" mission. In a fax posted on the official Hamas military wing Web site Monday, the three Palestinian militant groups that captured an Israeli soldier gave Israel until 6 a.m. Tuesday to start releasing Palestinian prisoners or "bear all the consequences.". (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) (Oded Balilty - AP)

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Militants holding an Israeli soldier said Tuesday they would give no further information about him because Israel ignored a deadline to release Palestinian prisoners. Israel insisted it would not negotiate with the Hamas-linked militants.

The captors set a 6 a.m. Tuesday (11 p.m. EDT Monday) deadline for Israel to begin freeing about 1,500 prisoners, implying they would kill Cpl. Gilad Shalit if their demands were not met.

Abu Muthana, spokesman for the shadowy Army of Islam, would not say whether the 19-year-old soldier was dead or alive.

"We will not give any information that will give the occupation good news or reassurance," he told The Associated Press.

After the deadline passed, Israeli Cabinet minister Roni Bar-On told Israel Radio: "Israel will not give in to terrorists and will not give in to extortion."

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected any negotiations with the militants, and the army pressed ahead with its Gaza offensive. Privately, though, some officials said the government had not ruled out any options to win Shalit's freedom.

Israel has pounded Gaza with airstrikes and artillery shells for nearly a week in an unsuccessful effort to force the Hamas-linked militants to release Shalit. It has been building up troops across from northern Gaza, preparing for an invasion. Tanks and troops moved in and out throughout the day and the military said it was carrying out "limited" operations to uncover explosives and tunnels.

A Hamas militant was killed and four were wounded in an Israeli airstrike in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza just after midnight, Palestinians said. Israel said its air force targeted Palestinians planting a bomb near soldiers.

Early Tuesday, Israeli aircraft hit the student council building at the Islamic University in Gaza City, witnesses said, badly damaging it. No one was hurt. The university is a Hamas stronghold. The military said it hit a "compound used by terror groups for instructing and directing terrorists."

In the West Bank city of Ramallah early Tuesday, Israeli forces arrested three militants said to be involved in the abduction and killing of 18-year-old Israeli settler Eliahu Asheri last week. The military said a fourth suspect was arrested earlier. The kidnapping and killing compounded the tension over the captured soldier. Asheri's body was found Thursday near Ramallah.

After Shalit was seized in a June 25 raid on an army post that left two comrades dead, his captors demanded Israel free all imprisoned Palestinian women and minors _ about 500 people _ in exchange for information about him. They later increased their demand to include the release of 1,000 more prisoners.

The Army of Islam was unheard of before the soldier was captured. Two other groups _ the Hamas military wing and the Popular Resistance Committees _ have also taken responsibility for the abduction.