Israel showed no sign of slowing a blistering seven-day offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza today.

Critics of Israel’s prisoner exchange with Lebanese guerrillas said that such deals only encourage more hostage-taking – a fear underscored by Gaza militants who said the swap proves that kidnapping is the only language Israel understands.

Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has concluded that Israel should exchange the perpetrator of a particularly serious terror attack for two Israeli soldiers held in Lebanon for the past two years, a senior government official confirmed today.

ISRAEL freed a convicted Hezbollah spy yesterday and the militant group turned over the remains of Israeli soldiers killed in the 2006 war in Lebanon.