The Palestinians and Israel are both facing challenges in the ongoing crisis in Gaza as Israeli troops pressed ahead a major ground operation in the coastal strip on Thursday to free an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants.

The abduction has presented Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with a test of authority and control over his own people, said analysts, adding that if Abbas is unable to handle this crisis, it will further strengthen Israel's resolution to act unilaterally, citing the absence of a capable Palestinian negotiation partner.

Although Palestinian factions have agreed on a statehood proposal which seeks a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza, the Israeli government is obviously not willing to "buy into" such an ambiguous platform, said the analysts.

The Palestinian ruling Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), whose charter calls for Israel's destruct, insists that the proposal does not implicitly recognize the Jewish state, but Abbas ' Fatah movement says the opposite.

At the moment, the Hamas-led Palestinian government faces the challenges to ensure the continuation of its 3-month-old rule and strengthen its mainstay status in the Gaza Strip, the analysts said.

They noted that the ongoing Gaza offensive also poses a challenge to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Rescuing the kidnapped soldier by means of a military operation will be an attempt to rescue Olmert's convergence plan, which was received rather coldly at home, the analysts said.

The high-profile abduction and the kidnapping of two Jewish settlers one of whom was found dead on early Thursday have made many Israelis doubt whether Israel should unilaterally withdraw in light of the convergence plan, they added.

Under Olmert's plan, Israel will quit isolated settlements in the West Bank but consolidate bigger ones in the absence of peace talks with the Palestinians.

The series of kidnappings and the Palestinian militant cross- border raid on Sunday also highlight security as the major test for the Olmert government, said the analysts.

Under fierce criticism from both nationalists and the public, the Olmert government feels obligated to prove that it has the ability to offer a convincing solution to the current state of insecurity in Israel, they said.

It is believed that the skill and ability Olmert displays in dealing with the current crisis will determine the fate of the public view on Olmert's pullout plan, they added.

Israeli troops launched a broad ground operation into the Gaza Strip on early Wednesday in a bid to rescue the abducted 19-year- old soldier.

It is the first major ground offensive by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip since Israel withdrew troops and settlers from the entire coastal strip last summer after 38 years of occupation.

In a surprise swoop, the Israeli troops launched a large-scale arrest campaign in the West Bank on early Thursday, detaining eight ministers in the Hamas-led Palestinian government and 23 Hamas lawmakers.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the detained Hamas officials were "suspected of criminal offenses connected with the activity of a terrorist organization and participation in directing terrorism and other offenses."

"The detainees have been taken for questioning and any evidence of terrorism-related activities that is found as a result will be used in law suits filed against them," said an Israeli army spokeswoman.

Although the Israeli government denied that this arrest campaign was launched in order to give Israel possible bargaining cards with the Palestinians in negotiating the release of the kidnapped Israeli soldier, the arrest undoubtedly adds pressure to the Palestinian government, analysts said.

Hamas, sworn to Israel's destruct, has refused to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous peace deals.

The group took the reins of the Palestinian government in late March after an election victory in January.

(Xinhua News Agency June 30, 2006)