Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert today ruled out any release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a soldier kidnapped yesterday by militants who infiltrated from the Gaza Strip.
"The question of releasing prisoners is not on the agenda of the Israeli government at all," Mr Olmert said in a speech.
Earlier, Palestinian militant groups demanded Israel free all Palestinian women and minors in its jails in exchange for information about the soldier.
The raiders came through an 800-yard tunnel starting in Gaza and stretching 300 yards into Israel. Bursting through before dawn, seven or eight militants attacked the Israeli guard post at the Kerem Shalom crossing point from the rear.
The attackers hurled grenades into a tank, killing two soldiers, badly wounding another and capturing the fourth.
"Military Statement 1" issued by Hamas's Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the Popular Resistance Committees and the Islamic Army, did not confirm directly the groups were holding Corporal Gilad Shalit (19) nor gave details of his condition.
Mr Olmert repeated in his speech that he held the governing Hamas movement and the head of the Palestinian Authority, President Mahmoud Abbas, responsible for the soldier's fate.
Earlier, he ordered the army to prepare a "broad" military operation after the Israeli soldier was captured during an attack on an army position in the Gaza Strip.
He authorised "all necessary measures" to ensure the return of the soldier.
"Let it be clear: We will reach everyone, no matter where they are, and they know it," Mr Olmert said in a speech in Jerusalem. "There will not be immunity for anyone."
He said the army was prepared for "a prolonged and extensive military operation in order to strike the terror organisations and commanders."
An Egyptian negotiating team says it has made contact with the militants holding the Israeli soldier.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas met Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh of Hamas last night for talks on the fate of the captured Israeli and other matters.
A statement from Mr Abbas's office deplored the attack and said it threatened to give Israel a "pretext to launch a widespread military operation."
Three Palestinian fighters were killed in the assault, which has further heightened tensions following a recent violence - including five Israeli air strikes over the past two weeks that killed seven militants and 14 bystanders, many of them children.