Jesus Christ On Medical Leave

This should make a very ugly situation even more so. Someone, other than Bushco, needs to step in and try to bring calm to both factions. The alternative is death for many innocent people.

Israel rejected an ultimatum from armed Palestinian groups holding an abducted soldier who said the Israeli government had until tomorrow to free about 1,400 prisoners or face unspecified consequences.

``Israel will not surrender to extortion by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas government led by murderous, terrorist organizations,'' Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an e-mailed statement. ``We will not conduct any negotiations to free prisoners.''

The armed groups, that include the military wing of Hamas, abducted Corporal Gilad Shalit, 19, in a June 25 attack on the soldier's tank just outside Gaza. Two other soldiers were killed.

``With the Zionist enemy's military aggressions, we give it until 6:00 a.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, July 4,'' said the groups who have demanded that some 1,400 Palestinians held in Israeli jails, including women and children under 18, be released. ``If Israel doesn't respond to these demands, the file of the soldier will be closed and the enemy will be totally responsible for any future consequences,'' the groups said without elaborating in a statement issued to journalists by fax.

Is anyone else getting tire of these ultimatums?

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