G8 calls for Israeli restraint in Gaza

Israel arrested about a third of the Palestinian cabinet as it pressed on with a Gaza military offensive intended to free a soldier abducted by Palestinian militants.

"We call on Israel to exercise utmost restraint in the current crisis," G8 foreign ministers said in a statement after meeting in Moscow. "The detention of elected members of the Palestinian government and legislature raises particular concerns."

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a news conference that diplomatic efforts to secure the soldier's release were continuing.

"I believe that you will see that responsible Palestinians are also engaged in efforts to get this soldier released -- and that is a very important point to make -- as well as some regional actors that are engaged," she said.

Israel, which quit the Gaza Strip nearly a year ago, holds Hamas responsible for the abduction of 19-year-old tank gunner Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid on Sunday. It says Hamas must ensure his safe return or suffer the consequences.

Hamas political leaders say they were not involved in planning the attack by the movement's armed wing and two other militant factions.

CALL FOR CALM

The foreign ministers' meeting -- which was dominated by discussions on Iran and the Middle East -- was expected to set the flavour for a summit of G8 leaders in Russia on July 15-17.

Russia for the first time holds the rotating presidency of the G8 club -- which includes the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Canada and Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov echoed Washington in calling for calm and said Russia was using bilateral contacts in an attempt to secure the release of Shalit.

"We (the G8) are united in the demand to free the Israeli soldier in the in the swiftest possible time," he said.

Russia -- with the United Nations, the United States and the European Union -- is a member of the quartet of Middle East mediators seeking an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hamas came to power after winning a parliamentary election in January. It has rejected Western and Russian demands to recognise the Jewish state, renounce violence and accept past interim peace talks.

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Oleg Shchedrov in Moscow)

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