Israel steps up bid to free hostage

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stepped up pressure on the Palestinian government today, ordering his military to “do all it can” to free an abducted soldier and hinting Israel may arrest Hamas leaders in Gaza.

Olmert’s threat, just hours after an Israeli airstrike blasted the Palestinian prime minister’s office, signalled that the government was losing patience with diplomatic efforts to end the crisis and was planning to escalate its military offensive.