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Israeli hints at deal

Days after worst fighting in 4 years, public security chief talks of bid to swap prisoners for hostage

BY MATTHEW MCALLESTER AND MOISES SAMAN | Newsday Staff Correspondents

July 8, 2006

BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza - As Israel's military continued its attack on Palestinian neighborhoods in northern Gaza Friday, its minister of public security said in a speech that Israel might be willing to release Palestinian prisoners if the kidnappers of an Israeli soldier set him free.

"Israel will need to, after some time, release prisoners as a reciprocal gesture," Avi Dichter said in a speech to Israeli business people. "Israel knows how to do this. Israel has done this more than once in the past."

It was not immediately clear if Dichter was speaking for the government, but his views fell close to the outline of a deal for Cpl. Gilad Shalit's release that Egyptian mediators have been promoting for a week. Under that proposal, the 19-year-old soldier would be freed, with a large release of Palestinian prisoners to follow soon after. Palestinian factions also would agree to stop firing rockets at Israel, and Israel would pledge not to immediately target leaders of Hamas, the main group holding Shalit.

The 24 hours that followed the beginning of the attack on Wednesday night were the most deadly in four years of the conflict, with at least 32 Palestinians and one Israeli killed.

Early Saturday, witnesses said, Israeli tanks and troops clashed with Palestinian militants in eastern Gaza for the first time in this latest fighting, entering near the Karni commercial crossing. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army and no word of any casualties.

Friday's fighting was particularly fierce in the Al-Salateen neighborhood of this northern part of the Gaza Strip.

On Al-Amoudi Street, an Israeli tank stood in the middle of the road, becoming a magnet for fighters and youths taunting the Israeli soldiers inside. Boys laid tires in the street about 150 yards away, set them on fire and raced across the street, spraying gasoline at the flames to make the fire reach higher, black smoke spiraling into the blue sky.

Hiding behind the corners of narrow, sandy streets, Palestinian militants stole looks at the tank. From somewhere, an Israeli sniper fired single shots at the militants hiding among the neighborhood's cinder-block houses. One bullet went through the arm of a Turkish photographer, apparently after ricocheting off his bulletproof vest.

The black-clad Palestinian gunmen carried automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Behind one wall was a Qassam rocket, partially covered by a brown blanket. It is these rockets, fired into Israel, that politicians and army officials have said the offensive is, in part, designed to combat. The other purpose: to pressure the kidnappers into releasing Shalit.

Some militants carried homemade bombs, fashioned out of gas cannisters, which they then hid under sand and rubble. Others rolled out lines of cable attached to roadside bombs.

At one point there was a whooshing sound, followed by a boom. Later, other journalists said the noise had come from a missile that killed two militants.