Rice urges diplomacy over Israeli hostage in Gaza

Prestwick, Scotland, June 27 : U S Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Israel to give diplomacy a chance to win the release of an Israeli soldier taken hostage by militants in Gaza.

Palestinians in northern Gaza have begun blocking roads with mounds of earth and Israeli armour has massed on the other side of the Gaza frontier as Israel awaits word on the fate of Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was abducted by Palestinian gunmen and taken to Gaza on Sunday.

''There really needs to be an effort now to try and calm the situation, not to let the situation escalate and to give diplomacy a chance to work to try to get this release,'' Rice told reporters who landed in Scotland for a refuelling stop en route to Pakistan.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held Hamas, an Islamist group that came to power in March, and the Palestinian Authority chaired by President Mahmoud Abbas responsible for the assault by gunmen on the frontier with Gaza during which Shalit was abducted.

''The time is approaching for a comprehensive, sharp and severe Israeli operation. We will not wait forever,'' Olmert said in a speech. ''We will not become a target of Hamas-terrorist blackmail.'' Rice said there was a concerted international effort to win the soldier's release and that she had talked to Israel's foreign minister and Abbas to seek a resolution.

The United States is Israel's most important ally and also has strong influence over Abbas, who has received consistent U S support in his power struggle with a Hamas-led government.

Rice said that if Hamas was behind the raid it would show that the group -- considered a terrorist organisation by the United States -- was ignoring international pressure to eschew violence.

''This is not behaviour that is tolerable in the international system,'' she said.

Reuters

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