Attorney General Menachem Mazuz determined Thursday that there was not legal reason to refrain from tearing down the homes of the terrorist. The prisoner exchange between Israel the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah is likely to be carried out within a week. A senior Hamas figure said Thursday that the Islamist group refuses to pass on any additional signs of life, including tapes and letters, from captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the closure of all crossings into the Gaza Strip on Thursday afternoon in response to a Kassam rocket attack earlier in the day. National Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer will ask the government to designate the Negev and Arava regions as preferred areas for renewable-energy development.  Ingrid Betancourt held hostage by the Farc rebels in Colombia since 2002 was set free on Wednesday by the Colombian authorities.