Hamas Leader Will Bring Destruction on Middle East, Egypt Says
By Julie Stahl
CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief
July 11, 2006

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Egypt has warned Syria that it should expel the Damascus-based Hamas leadership or risk the destruction of the Syrian regime.

Israel has blamed Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal for giving the order to abduct soldier Gilad Shalit during an attack on an Israeli outpost along the Israeli-Gaza border two weeks ago. And Israel says it is Mashaal who is preventing Corporal Shalit's release.

Israel also warned Damascus, which hosts the headquarters of about a dozen Palestinian terrorist organizations, not to harbor Mashaal. Israeli Air Force jets buzzed the summer palace of Syrian President Bashar Assad two weeks ago as a warning.

The Shalit abduction and continued rocket fire on southern Israeli communities prompted the Israeli military to return to the Gaza Strip to root out terrorists operating from there. Mashaal said on Monday that Shalit would be released only in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli jails.

Just hours before, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called Mashaal "a terrorist with blood on his hands" and said that Israel would not negotiate with him nor would Israel release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for its abducted soldier.

Egypt, a U.S. Middle East ally which has acted as a mediator in efforts to obtain the Shalit's release, demanded that Syrian President Assad expel Mashaal because of his refusal to order the release of Shalit, Israel radio reported on Tuesday.

Quoting unnamed Arab diplomatic sources, the report said the Egypt had warned Assad that Mashaal and Hamas would bring destruction on the Middle East in general and on Assad's regime.

Meanwhile, rallies were held outside Syrian diplomatic missions in a number of cities on Monday, including in Washington, New York, Paris and London, demanding Shalit's release.

In London, two protesters were invited inside the embassy to meet with the Syrian ambassador and discuss a letter they were delivering.

According to the Zionist Federation, the ambassador told them they were welcome as Jews but not as Zionists.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military operation in Gaza is continuing and international aid groups say the humanitarian situation is worsening.

Four Palestinians reportedly were wounded in an Israeli aerial attack in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

The Israeli Air Force carried out a number of aerial strikes on Tuesday, targeting a cache of Kassam rockets, a rocket firing squad and a vehicle containing rockets, the army said.

Earlier, Israel carried out aerial attacks on gunmen near the Karni goods crossing between Israel and Gaza, and on a bridge used by rocket launching cells.