Hadas Shalit will begin her army service Wednesday as her brother, Gilad, remains three years in captivity by Hamas terrorists. Hadas, 19, will serve as a Soldier’s Welfare NCO. She spent the previous year in national service in Jerusalem. Hadas said that her brother’s captivity didn’t affect her decision to enlist.
As Hadas begns her army service, the Hizullah-backed Al Manar news network reports progress in negotiations for her brother's release, brokered by Germany, who recently sent a representative to Israel.
A delegation headed by Hamas official Mahmoud A-Zahar departed for Egypt Tuesday. Israeli media have speculated that the move is part of a round of negotiations for the release of the kidnapped soldier. Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Ayman Taha, said Tuesday that progress has been made to secure a deal for the release of Shalit. However, Taha added that no breakthrough has been made.
Last week, Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak announced that Germany was involved in negotiations between Hamas and Israel to secure Shalit’s release. Among the points of contentions are the number of prisoners held by Israel to be exchanged and whether prisoners “with blood on their hands” would be released. Israel has previously released Arab terrorists in similar deals, but a vast number of them returned to their terrorist past.
Demonstrations for Gilad Shalit
On Tuesday, protestors for Shalit at the Megiddo prison temporarily blocked its entrance and prevented relatives of Hamas terrorists to visit the prisoners. Legislative and other efforts are being stepped up to ban visits to Palestinian terrorists as long as Gilad Shalit receives no visitors.
Protestors outside Israeli prisons led authorities to cancel all visits on Tuesday to Hamas terrorists, for fear that the protestors and the Arabs would clash.
Meanwhile, the Jewish Agency started a campaign ahead of captured soldier Gilad Shalit’s third birthday as a Hamas hostage. The Jewish Agency demands that the International Red Cross be given access to Shalit, in accordance with international humanitarian law. According to the Geneva Convention (1949), every prisoner of war is entitled to be visited by representatives of the International Red Cross (IRC).
The Agency noted that since his capture, Shalit’s parents have only received three handwritten letters from him. Sympathizers with Shalit’s plight are asked to show their support by electronically sending a letter to Gail McGovern, the American Red Cross president and CEO by surfing to the Jewish Agency’s site and filling in a form letter, which states: “We are writing to express solidarity with Gilad Shalit, the abducted Israeli soldier held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Under the Geneva Convention, every prisoner of war is entitled to be visited by representatives of the International Red Cross. We call on the Red Cross to exert pressure on the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip to grant Gilad Shalit the rights due him under international law.”