Israel arrested dozens of Hamas cabinet ministers and lawmakers yesterday in a move the Islamic group said aimed to topple its government, as the army pressed on with a Gaza offensive to free an abducted soldier.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other G8 (group of eight industrialized nations) foreign ministers said in a joint statement that the arrests in the occupied West Bank raised "particular concerns." They called on Israeli forces in Gaza to show restraint.

Israeli military vehicles move to the Gaza Strip at the Rafah border crossing area June 28, 2006. Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz gave a green light to the start of the second phase of an ongoing massive ground operation dubbed "Summer Rain" in Gaza, which was launched on early Wednesday with Israeli troops entering the southern Gaza Strip. (Xinhua photo)

 
 
Palestinians and policemen gather around a bombed car in Gaza City, June 29, 2006. (Xinhua Photo)

Hundreds of Palestinian gunmen wielding automatic rifles and anti-tank weapons took up positions waiting for Israeli forces to open a second front in the northern Gaza Strip, a day after tanks and infantry pushed into the south of the territory.

An Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a vehicle carrying a senior Islamic Jihad militant in Gaza City, slightly wounding him, while masked gunmen blew a 4-metre wide hole in the border wall between Gaza and Egypt.

The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), one of the militant groups believed to be responsible for the abduction of Corporal Gilad Shalit, issued a statement taunting Israel, vowing not to provide information about whether the soldier was alive or dead.

Israel Radio said Shin Bet security chief Yuval Diskin had warned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the day of the kidnapping: "If the soldier is not returned in 24 hours, Israel will not allow the Palestinian Government to survive. "

In an implied threat to Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and his Syrian host, Israeli warplanes buzzed one of President Bashar al-Assad's palaces on Wednesday. A Syrian official said the air force fired at the planes.

Preparing for an offensive in north Gaza, a region used by militants to launch rockets at Israel, Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets urging residents to avoid areas troops may target.

In a night-time blitz in the occupied West Bank, troops arrested Finance Minister Omar Abdel-Razeq and seven other cabinet members - a third of the Hamas cabinet - along with 24 legislators of the group, Palestinian officials said.

"(This) ... is a pre-planned plot to destroy the Authority, the government and the parliament and to bring the Palestinian people to their knees," Hamas lawmaker Mushir al-Masri said.

Adding to the tensions, the body of an 18-year-old Jewish settler, Eliyahu Asheri, was found near Ramallah. The PRC took responsibility for the killing.

Five of the cabinet ministers were arrested at the same Ramallah hotel.

Ahmed al-Najjar, a receptionist at the hotel, said he was asleep when troops arrived after midnight, demanded a list of guests, and took the Hamas men from their rooms at gunpoint.

Israel said 64 Hamas officials in all were detained and it vowed to seize other members of the militant group, whose charter calls for the Jewish state's destruction.

"Recent events and especially those of the last few days prove that the results of the elections in the Palestinian Authority were translated into a government policy of terrorism," Israel's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Hamas' Masri called the arrests a declaration of war.

Israel holds Hamas responsible for the abduction of Shalit, a 19-year-old tank gunner, in a cross-border raid on Sunday.

Beijing Concerned

China said yesterday that it was concerned and uneasy about the Middle East situation, and urged the involved parties to refrain from resorting to violence.

"We hope both sides (Israel and Palestine) stop the circle of violence as soon as possible and avoid taking actions that escalate disputes," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a regular news briefing.

She said the Palestinian-Israeli conflict should be resolved through political negotiation and peaceful means in accordance with United Nations resolutions and on the principle of "land for peace."

Editor: Yan