JERUSALEM, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has suspended a senior envoy who criticised the government's handling of Egyptian-brokered truce talks with Hamas, Israel Radio reported on Monday. Amos Gilad has long been the Olmert government's point man in Egypt, which wants to consolidate a Jan. 18 ceasefire that ended a three-week Israeli offensive in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip that was designed to end attacks on the Jewish state. The radio said Olmert had been offended by a newspaper article last week that quoted Gilad as saying the government had an inconsistent approach to the truce talks that was "insulting" to the Egyptians. As well as suspending Gilad, Olmert had asked the Civil Service Commission to check if his published remarks amounted to insubordination, said the radio. Olmert's office and the Defence Ministry had no immediate comment on the report. Gilad's comments in the Maariv daily newspaper appeared to focus on Olmert's insistence that Hamas agree to release a captive Israeli soldier before Israel eases a blockade on the impoverished Gaza Strip, as demanded by the Islamist group. Olmert, head of a caretaker government since a Feb. 10 election to choose his successor, has pledged to exert maximum effort to secure the return of Gilad Shalit, the soldier abducted by Palestinians to Gaza in 2006. (Writing by Dan Williams, Editing by Ralph Gowling)
Palestinians ride a motorbike past tents for Palestinians whose houses were destroyed during Israel's 22-day offensive in Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip February 22, 2009. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA) ...
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