This week Israeli citizen Gilad Shalit counts three years in captivity. During this period, he has not received a visit by The Red Cross, as required by international law. No one in Israel knows with certainty his health situation or his mental state, or the location where he is being held.
On the morning of the June 25, 2006, at 5:40 a.m., terrorists of the Palestinian Hamas organization crossed the southern border of Gaza Strip into the Israel through a tunnel in the vicinity of Kerem Shalom, and attacked an Israeli Defense Force stronghold. Gilad Shalit was wounded in the shoulder and arm and was kidnapped by the terrorists and taken into the Gaza Strip.
From that day forward, the Israeli government attempted to reach an agreement to secure Shalit’s release. Still today, and during the entire negotiations, the price Hamas demands in exchange for Shalit’s release remains unknown. The standpoint of the Israeli government is that the terrorists included on the list of Hamas’s demands to be released are positioned high in their ranks and are far too dangerous to be released and turned over.
The previous government, which held the major part of the negotiations for Shalit’s release, tried to reach an agreement without paying that heavy cost. During those three years, Israel and Hamas exchanged mutual and routine blows and a number of military actions. Israel’s perspective is that the negotiations to calm the area in the south and the negotiations for the release of Shalit are one issue. For Hamas there are two issues: the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit, and calming down the area in exchange for opening up border crossings. Three years after his kidnapping, Shalit has not yet been released.
The Israeli people have not forgotten Gilad Shalit though much time has passed. Large demonstrations have been held near the Gaza border and in city squares during those three years. Sometimes vigils are held in front of the Prime Minister’s residence in the capital, reminding passers-by that an Israeli citizen is still held in Hamas’s custody. This week a large gathering in the “Kerem Shalom” settlement was held to demand again the release of Gilad Shalit.
