Hamas officials said Tuesday evening that the group would not release kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit as part of a proposed temporary ceasefire with Israel. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with Egyptian intelligence head Omar Suleiman on Monday and told him they would not agree to a ceasefire that did not include Shalit’s release.

Senior Hamas terrorists accused Israel of attempting to “evade” the ceasefire by bringing up Shalit. Hamas spokesmen repeated threats to attack Israel if Israeli leaders did not accept the ceasefire proposal in the near future.