New hope for return of kidnapped soldier?

TEL AVIV – Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip is spurring hope for the safe return of an Israeli soldier kidnapped nearly a year ago by the fundamentalist Islamic group, even as it issued a terse warning to Israel not to harm its leaders "or forget about Gilad Shalit."

Shalit, then a 19-year-old army corporal, was captured last June 25 during a cross-border raid and smuggled into Gaza. He has been held by Hamas and two other organizations involved in the attack, in which two other Israelis were killed.

Israeli officials and family members are hoping that with Hamas now in control of Gaza, having prompted their rivals in Fatah to flee to the west bank following a bloody conflict last week, Hamas alone will be able to decide Shalit’s fate.

"There is a new situation and I hope Prime Minister Olmert will know how to take advantage of it," Noam Shalit told journalists at a graveside ceremony Sunday marking a year since his son was captured and his son’s comrades were killed.

It would be in Hamas’ interest, experts argue, to make a deal now.

"I think it’s a great opportunity for Gilad Shalit and for Alan Johnston for sure," said Lt. Col. (Res.) Anat Berko, a research fellow at the International Institute for Counter Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, referring to the BBC reporter who was abducted in Gaza in March. "I think Hamas wants to show that they are the boss, that they can make things happen and they are the ones with the key."

Analysts say that Hamas first must prove to nervous Gazans that it can deliver on a practical level by providing basic items such as gasoline, food, electricity, and water. This would mean securing even a minimum level of cooperation with Israel, which could be bolstered significantly by the release of Shalit.

Second, making a prisoner swap with Israel would boost Hamas’ popularity in Gaza as well as the west bank. The issue of Palestinian prisoners is a hugely emotional one on the Palestinian street, where almost every family has a relative or friend in an Israeli jail.

Hamas is likely to want to make a deal on prisoners before Israel makes one with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a move that would strengthen Abbas and Fatah’s standing instead of that of Hamas.

Hamas, said Yaron Ezrahi, a political science professor at the Hebrew University, "is in the process of being maligned and criticized in an unprecedented way because the picture that dominates the international press is of the Hamas member with a mask, in a terrorist uniform, with a gun in his hand. On the other hand, they have never been in a position of having full responsibility for the daily lives of 1.5 million people."

Ezrahi said that "the rewards of releasing Shalit would not be higher in the future. I think Hamas right now after its military victory is definitely in the mood to try to cut political losses and public image losses they are suffering. I think they should have a very compelling motivation to release Shalit now."

In the west bank, Fatah spokesman Samir Nayfa suggested to the Palestinian media that a deal between Hamas and Israel could happen, even in unexpected ways. "Hamas might announce that Shalit disappeared amidst the state of chaos in Gaza Strip, or they might announce that he ran away," he said. "Hamas might go to the extreme of announcing that Fatah people helped Shalit run away."

At the same time, Hamas issued a warning on Saturday. "If any of Hamas’ leaders are harmed, Israel can forget about Gilad Shalit," a spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, the Izz el-Din al-Qassam Brigades, told reporters.

The daily Ha’aretz cited security sources reporting that the Egyptians, who had been mediating with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators to broker a deal for Shalit, might resume efforts soon if the situation in Gaza does continue to wind down. They had stopped in recent weeks as the fighting between Fatah and Hamas intensified, the sources said.

David Baker, an Israeli government spokesman, told JTA that Shalit’s release is still very much at the top of the Israeli agenda. "Israel will not relent in its efforts to allow for the safe return of our soldier Gilad Shalit," he said. "These efforts continue unabated."

Observers say that if Hamas does strike a deal to swap prisoners with Israel, it also would break Israel’s self-imposed taboo on talking to Hamas, even if it is through the Egyptians.

Berko, the Herzliya center researcher and author of the recent book "The Path to Paradise: The Inner World of Suicide Bombers and Their Dispatchers," said that despite Israel’s desires to strengthen the secular Fatah movement over Hamas, the time may have come to realize it can only influence things so far.

"I think this is not the time to deal with strengthening or weakening sides. We saw Israel cannot predict or create all the processes in the Middle East. We saw it in Lebanon and we are seeing it all over the world," she said, referring to the surge of Islamic fundamentalism of which Hamas is a part. "As time passes it will become harder to secure Shalit’s release. Now something has changed and we have to take the opportunity and speak with the devil," she said

Reference:
Thanks to New Jersey Jewish Standard and Dina Kraft

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Prayer for the Deliverance of the Captured Israeli Soldiers

It has been 1 year since the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit.
Below this appears a prayer written by Rishon Le'Sion Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel, Shelomo Amar.

(Psalm readings: Chapters 70, 13, 142, 126)

The following passage contains the word of G_d please treat it with respect and appropriateness.
[click read more...]

Prayer for the Deliverance of the Captured Israeli Soldiers MAY it be Your will, Lord our God and God of our fathers, that these Psalms which we have read before You today should come to You favorably, and be accepted before you as if King David Your anointed one – peace be on him – had said them himself. Please take action for the sake of Your Holy names which are written in them, and which are alluded to in them, and accept with mercy and favor our prayers and requests, so that our supplications reach You. Have pity, show concern and extend mercy to the captives, Ehud ben Malka Goldwasser; Eldad ben Tovah Regev; and Gilad ben Aviva Shalit, and save them, showing redemption and mercy, together with all captives and prisoners from Your nation Israel. MAY the One who can liberate captives release them from their detention, deliver them from captivity to liberty, from tyranny to redemption, and from gloom to brightness, and restore them to complete health – a healing of the soul and of the body – and revitalize their spirit, reinvigorate their strength, and help them in happiness and joy; then they will be strengthened and healed and will have eternal happiness. MAY the merit of the prayers, the cries, and the supplications of the multitudes who plead for them all over the world stand for them as a shield and a protection, freeing them from their captivity. Please tear asunder any negative judgments. May all their merits be presented before You, the Blessed One, and all that they have achieved and done for the sake of our nation and our heritage. Tear up their verdicts for the merit of the Holy Name that is alluded to in the initial Hebrew letters of the phrase “Accept the prayer of your nation; fortify us, purify us, You who are so awesome.” MAY the words of this scriptural verse (Isaiah 53:10) be fulfilled for them: “God’s captives will return and come to Zion in joy; eternal happiness will be on their heads, they will be invested with joy and happiness, and sorrow and anxiety will be banished.” May this happen very soon! Translation by Rabbi Mayer Waxman, Director of Synagogue Services, Orthodox Union Edited by David Olivestone, Director of Communications, Orthodox Union

Gilad Shalit is a corporal in the Israel Defense Forces. He comes from
Mitzpe Hila in the Western Galilee, and holds dual Israeli and French citizenship. Gilad is the first Israeli soldier captured by Palestinians since Nachson Wachsman in 1994. Early on Sunday morning, June 25, 2006, Shalit was kidnapped by Palestinian Arab terrorists who attacked an army post in Israel after crossing the border from Gaza via a tunnel near the Kerem Shalom crossing at the south Gaza Strip border. During the morning attack, two Israel Defense Force soldiers were killed and four others wounded.

Thanks to International Sephardic Leadership Council

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Hamas: 'No change in Schalit's captors' demands'

"There is no change in the demands of Gilad Schalit's captors," Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas's armed wing, was quoted as saying on Sunday morning.

Obeida added that negotiations over the release of the captured IDF soldier were halted two months ago and since then there had been no messages conveyed by Israel via the Egyptian mediators, Israel Radio reported.

"We urge Israel to deal with the issue quickly because this foot dragging is not in Israel's interests if it wants to protect Gilad Schalit," said Obeida.

Bagelblogger: No Change? Surely you would need to check with his captors? Unless of course we finally accept the obvious, Hamas has been behind the kidnapping all along.
Instead of Israel accepting thinly veiled threats from Hamas terrorists, Hamas need to know the dire consequences if Gilad Shalit is harmed. Each and every leader of Hamas needs to know they are directly responsible for Shalit's safety.

Terrorist organisations must be held accountable.

References:
Hamas: 'No change in Schalit's captors' demands'

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Zahar: Hamas willing to renew talks over release of Shalit

Top Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar said Saturday that Hamas is willing to renew negotiations over the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for an Israeli release of Palestinian prisoners.

"If Israel wants to begin at the point where we stopped, there is a possibility to complete the exchange deal", Zahar said.

Shalit was captured in a cross-border raid by Hamas and two smaller militant groups in June last year. So far, Egyptian mediation attempts to exchange Shalit for Palestinian prisoners have failed.

IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were subsequently abducted by Hezbollah on July 12 near the border with Lebanon, sparking the Second Lebanon War.

Noam Shalit, Gilad Shalit's father, said Saturday that he hopes he won't go through another "nightmarish" year, and called on the government "to pick up the pace in bringing back the children."

Shalit spoke at a ceremony in Rosh Hanikra following a cycle rally in the western Galilee, organized to show support for the abducted Israel Defense Forces soldiers and their families.

Karnit Goldwasser, wife of Ehud Goldwasser, called on newly elected president, Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to act for the quick release of the abducted troops, "and not to let apathy kill them."

Some 3,000 cyclists took part in the rally Saturday morning, under the banner of "stop apathy for the sake of the kidnapped soldiers."

The cyclists began at the Regba shopping center situated between the coastal towns of Acre and Nahariya, and finished at Rosh Hanikra.

The rally marks almost a year since Shalit was captured by Palestinian militants.

Bagelblogger: Could it be any more clearer that Hamas is in full control of the situation? The pretense and fabrication that Hamas doesn't have complete control of the where abouts of Gilad Shalit needs to be realised by the world.
Why is it a organisation which has been declared as a terrorist entity, which is so obviously behind the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit is able to exist in any form?

Why isn't the entire world denouncing this crime? Why is Hamas left to commit atrocity after atrocity under the pretense of crimes being committed by 'uncontrollable splinter groups'. The time has come, any country, state or administration that is involved in terrorism needs to be confronted now.

Have we not learned the lessons of not taking firm action and holding countries that harbor, train and encourage terrorism to be accountable.

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Gilad Shalit - one year later

By Rafi G

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of the abduction of Gilad Shalit.

On June 25, 2006, Palestinian militants breeched the Israeli border and attacked a military outpost. They abducted Gilad Shalit and, in the process, killed two other IDF soldiers and injured three more.

Since the abduction, we have read in the news about offers for a trade. The terms of the deal as suggested by the ruling Hamas leaders has been ridiculous. They have demanded thousands of prisoners in exchange for Shalit, and they will not even give any information as to Shalit's condition prior to any deal.

We have occasionally been told, via the media, that a deal is imminent and we can expect good news "within 2 weeks." I can remember about 4 different times over the year that our government has counted on the promises of PA President Mahmoud Abbas to declare that the Shalit situation will be over in a matter of days.

The days pass, the weeks pass, the months pass, and all we are left with is more promises by Abbas and Gilad Shalit remains in captivity.

With the recent Hamas coup of Gaza, Mahmoud Abbas will obviously not even be able to make promises that he cannot keep. He will not be able to give us the hope and optimism we desire.

We like to fool ourselves.

We think that as long as the moderates are in control, we are ok. Everything will work out. Abbas will work it out and get us Shalit back under reasonable terms. As long as we have someone there making promises to us, even though those promises will never be kept, we remain calm. We remain optimistic that Abbas will come through.

Abbas will never come through. I say that loud and clear. He has never come through. He is not a moderate. He has done nothing for us and, even worse, he has done nothing to advance the goals of the Palestinian people. He has gotten a lot of goodwill gestures from Israel, but in the 2.5 years he has been President of the PA, he has not advanced their situation at all.

We have our hopes and desires. As long as Abbas was willing to make us promises, empty as they might be, we were willing to have expectations. The problem with that is that as the time passes, our expectations result in constant disappointment.

Maybe now that Hamas is in complete control of Gaza and Abbas does not even have the ability to make promises, we will stop taking hope from him. Hopefully we will begin to look for real solutions to obtaining Shalit's freedom (and Goldwasser and Regev in Lebanon, but that will be for another post) and stop relying on false hope and people who do not have the ability to come through.

And we, the people who cannot do anything except pressure the government, and even that does not help with the crowd of selfish politicians currently filling the seats of power who ignore the calls of the public, should keep reminding the government of its responsibilities, and keep pressuring the government in any way possible to bring this situation to its resolution.

But the fall of Abbas should also be a reminder that "we have nobody to rely on except our Father in heaven."

As long as Abbas was making promises, we could forget about Hashem and rely on Abbas and Olmert. Now that they can no longer make any promises, the time is ripe to remember that really we should be relying on Hashem to bring this to a resolution. There is nobody here reliable to rely on. We must increase our prayers and our good deeds in Shalit's merit.

(this post has been cross posted at the Life in Israel blog)

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The Hamas Coup and Repurcussions for Gilad Shalit

With the reality of the Hamas takeover of Gaza sinking in and the broader consequences having been addressed, thoughts are now turning to issues such as Gilad Shalit's captivity, which will reach its one year anniversary on June 25. Needless to say, there are all kinds of assumptions:

Analysts say that Hamas first must prove to nervous Gazans that it can deliver on a practical level by providing basic items such as gasoline, food, electricity and water. This would mean securing even a minimum level of cooperation with Israel, which could be bolstered significantly by the release of Shalit.

Second, making a prisoner swap with Israel would boost Hamas' popularity in Gaza as well as the West Bank. The issue of Palestinian prisoners is a hugely emotional one on the Palestinian street, where almost every family has a relative or friend in an Israeli jail.

The motivation for Hamas to get good PR is balanced by the anger they would generate among Gazans if they did not get a large number of prisoner releases in exchange.

On the other hand, is Israel really willing at this point to negotiate with Hamas and as a result help mitigate the world's horror at the Hamas coup and strengthen their position in Gaza--while at the same time realizing that obtaining the release of Shalit could provide Olmert with some good PR of his own.

Bottom line: Gilad Shalit remains as much a pawn as ever.

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End of Days Talkspot: Israel Pulls Out of Lebanon

Muse, of "Shiloh Musings" blog fame, makes a very valid point in her previous post. One that I'm sure we all agree with, and that is, "We mustn't forget all of the other Israelis held by the enemy. Some were captured over 20 years ago."

Thank you Muse for this reminder to us all that we must never forget these captured, and, or, missing Israeli's, and their brave families.

This site has been dedicated to one, in particular, of the captured Israeli's, a brave, young IDF soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, in the hope that he will soon be returned safely to his waiting family, but not in the disregard for all other missing Israeli's.

This blog is dedicated to all those who are still missing, and to their suffering families, in the hope, that G-D willing, many others, may still be alive, and might return home, safely, and soon, after the horrors of their captivity.

We must never lose the hope (HaTikva), nor should we ever forget to remember, these dear souls, and their families.

Perhaps this blog, dedicated to one young Jewish boy, can be a reminder of all the other captives, in addition to Gilad, who's families are still watching, and believing, for their loved ones return.

Thank you Muse, for reminding us that, this isn't only about a single Israeli soldier, but, should rather serve as a continual reminder to us, of ALL the missing Israeli's, and their loved one's who still long for their safe return.

Our hearts bleed for the families of Ehud Goldwasser, and Eldad Regev, and all the others, who remain, yet unaccounted for. In this hope, I thought I would link an article from DEBKA, which I had posted, last year, following the withdrawal of troops from Lebanon, on the morning of Yom Kippur's eve.

We must remember Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, as they too, have been held captive, as has Gilad, for almost a year now. As this anniversary of their capture nears, may we do everything within our abilities, to secure their release. We must, "Never forget" !!

Please click read more to read article below:

Original article: DEBKA

On: October 01, 2006

Read original article here: http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1215

Israel Quits Lebanon Leaving Hizballah Back in the Saddle under UN Auspices:

DEBKAfile Special Military Report

October 1, 2006, 10:55 AM (GMT+02:00)

DEBKAfile’s military sources saw the Iast Israeli soldier quit Lebanon before dawn of Oct. 1, Yom Kippur eve, leaving in captivity Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, the two soldiers whose abduction by Hizballah provoked the 34-day Lebanon war on July 12.

Only one third of the 15,000 international peacekeepers the UN Security Council pledged for an expanded UNIFIL has in fact been deployed in South Lebanon. And even that paltry force has made no effort to stop Hizballah restoring its presence and replenishing its stocks of rockets and missiles to points in South Lebanon within firing range of Israel. In most ways, therefore, UN Security Council Resolution 1701 of Aug. 14 is a dead letter.

While withdrawing the bulk of its force gradually, Israel kept the last units behind in a futile effort to persuade UNIFIL commanders to uphold key provisions of the resolution. They refused even the minimal demand to restrict Hizballah’s military movements along the Israeli border. They claimed they could only act with the permission of the Lebanese government. By finally giving way on this point, the Israeli government accepted the determination that UNIFIL is the instrument of the Lebanese government - not the enforcer of UN resolutions or Israeli security.

This concession makes nonsense of the claim that the most important gain of the Lebanon operation was the removal of Hizballah’s fighting forces from access to the Israeli border. This claim was made in a desperate attempt by Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, defense minister Amir Peretz and chief of staff Lt.-Gen Dan Halutz, to justify the war and its losses.

Looking slightly further ahead, Israel’s policy-makers had better hurry up and form a plan to meet an exacerbated threat from Lebanon, the possible displacement of the Fouad Siniora government in Beirut with a pro-Syrian, Hizballah-dominated administration. This further deterioration in Israel’s national security situation is far from being a remote hypothesis.

Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah used the war to forge alliances with the Lebanese parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, head of the rival Shiite movement Amal, and the Christian Maronite strongman Michel Aoun. This bloc intends to make a bid to install a pro-Syrian government after Ramadan is over next month.

Our sources in Beirut report a last-minute US-French initiative to frustrate this development. Siniora had his interior minister Ahmed Fatfat posted decree No. 2403 for Lebanon’s five intelligence and security agencies to pool their intelligence data and so provide his government and national army with the means of asserting control over national security. Two pro-Syrian officers, General Security chief Wafic Jezzini, and Director-General of Internal Security forces, Maj.-Gen Ashraf Rifi, stamped hard on this decree. The Siniora government was thus denied a key resource for dominating the country at large, not just the South, and is more vulnerable than ever to a hostile push.

As for Israel’s policy-makers, their handling of the bargaining with UNIFIL was as muddled, vacillating and feeble as their conduct of the Lebanon war itself. By accepting the Aug. 14 truce, they agreed to handing over the Lebanese-Israeli border to an international peacekeeping force without teeth; its rules of engagement are so constrictive that without Lebanese government authorization its members may not fire a single shot - even when necessary to prevent Hizballah moving back to its former aggressive positions or smuggling in fresh supplies of weapons – both of which are out-and-out violations of the same Resolution 1701 which mandated its own deployment.

By removing its troops in keeping with that same resolution, Israel has bargained away its last option for extracting information about the fate of the two soldiers seized by Hizballah; Red Cross access has brusquely refused.

In the view of DEBKAfile’s political sources, the last IDF units were kept in Lebanon after the truce for no discernible military or diplomatic purpose but to lull the Israeli public into not looking too closely at their leaders’ feeble negotiating stance and assuming Israel was still a strong player on the Lebanese scene. By Yom Kippur eve, most people were caught up in seasonal pursuits and less inclined to continue their painful in-depth calculation of the war’s net results.

Those results can be summed up in four negative developments which the Olmert government failed to thwart:

1. The wholesale smuggling through Syria of fresh weapons supplies to Hizballah from Syria and Iran, which neither the Lebanese army nor UNIFIL is lifting a finger to stop despite an explicit UN embargo. The heads of Israel’s government neglected to draw lessons from the failed deal on the Gaza crossings and the Philadelphi route, which never prevented arms flowing freely from Egyptian Sinai to Palestinian terrorists, notably the ruling Hamas.

Syria stays technically in the clear of the UN arms embargo by setting up huge arms dumps on its border with Lebanon, ready to be pushed across at a moment’s notice by land.

2. Expanded UNIFIL, which Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni did her best to present as a force with teeth, rather than monitoring Hizballah’s movements and disarming its combatants, is busy monitoring the feuds of Lebanese political and military factions.

3. These international units refrain from entering S. Lebanese villages. There is therefore no hindrance to Hizballah re-occupying those villages and restoring its strongholds within range of the Israeli border. The UN force is not setting up checkpoints to control banned traffic in the South. At best, the units are using makeshift roadblocks which go up for an hour at most before being removed and leaving Hizballah a free field for moving around the South.

4. The naval blockade against illegal arms imports, purportedly maintained by French, Italian, German and Greek war vessels, is about effective as UNIFIL’s ephemeral roadblocks. Their governments consented to the vessels being barred from entering Lebanese territorial waters. And so a strip of ocean 12 miles wide up to the Lebanese coast remains wide open for Hizballah’s arms ships to freely ply the route between Syrian and Lebanese ports.

Anxious to turn disaffected popular attention away from Hizballah’s recovery under the benign auspices of the UN’s European contingents, Israeli ministers and military chiefs have been debating out loud the need to carry out a major ground operation in the Gaza Strip, whence Qassam missiles continue to be fired into Israeli communities and where the Palestinians are building up their arms stocks, unhindered by international monitors and Egyptian police.

Related articles:

Israel’s Real Danger

European Lebanon Force Is Cast as Shield for Iranian-Hizballah Military Buildup

Nasrallah Is Already Carving out Lebanon’s Future

Link

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Remembering all the victims of terror attacks against Israel

We mustn't forget all of the other Israelis held by the enemy. Some were captured over 20 years ago.

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Gaza Infighting Renewed, Causing Increased Concerns for Shalit

This article, from October 03, 2006, ran on IsraelNationalNews.com. The article addresses the dangerous situation created by renewed infighting among the rival Palestinian factions of Hamas and Fatah loyalists, and it's potential implications on kidnapped Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

Now, just as then, only to a far broader and potentially more dangerous degree, the infighting, and resulting overthrow of Gaza, by Hamas, has everyone especially concerned for the safety and return of Gilad Shalit. We must do everything within our abilities to ensure that pressure is applied at all levels to initiate action directed toward the immediate release of Gilad.

There is no time to waste. Gilad is a pawn in a vicious game of hostage taking and pro-longed blackmail by these so-called "Palestinian" terrorist thugs. They are not "freedom fighters", or "militants", or "soldiers". They are vicious, cold blooded killers, capable of any, and every evil act, from "homicide bombers", to kidnapping, to "blackmail", and most certainly, brutal murder. I cannot stress enough the urgency of this situation. Please get involved !! Do it because it's right !! Do it now !! Please !!

Please read the original article below:

Latest Report from IsraelNationalNews.com:

Gaza Infighting Renewed, Causing Increased Concerns for Shalit

11:05 Oct 03, '06 / 11 Tishrei 5767

by Hana Levi Julian

Renewed clashes between Fatah and Hamas left three dead and at least 22 wounded in Gaza Monday night. Israeli officials are concerned about how the situation impacts IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

The inter-faction violence which began Sunday escalated into what Palestinian Authority officials were concerned might once again raise the threat of a civil war, especially with the realization of the large number of weapons available in Gaza. Terrorists have smuggled thousands of arms across the border from Egypt in recent months.

Israeli officials, meanwhile, are concerned that the sharp increase in fighting between Hamas and Fatah gunmen in Gaza will negatively impact efforts towards obtaining Shalit’s release.

The soldier was abducted on June 25th by Hamas terrorists in a raid on an IDF outpost near the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Gaza. His whereabouts and condition are still unknown.

Two Fatah members were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in Khan Younis, an attack the faction blamed on Hamas. Three people were wounded in a firefight at Shifa Hospital in Gaza between the family of a dead Fatah gunmen and Hamas police officers. Fatah gunmen killed a waiter in Jericho when he refused to close his restaurant and comply with a strike organized by the minority faction to protest violence in Gaza. Two of PA Deputy Prime Minister Nasser al-Shaer’s bodyguards were shot by unidentified attackers in Shechem, according to the Associated Press. Al-Shaer was not present at the time.

Some 5,000 Fatah protestors in Rafah called for the resignation of PA Interior Minister Said Siyam and demanded the Hamas-led police force disband, leading to more violence. One police officer and a demonstrator were killed and at least 18 others wounded in the clash between police and protestors, according to Reuters.

Nabil Amr, a top aide to President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) said in Ramallah that Abbas was ‘seriously considering’ forming an emergency government or calling early elections to put an end to the ongoing conflicts and bloodshed. “Decisions should be taken in a short period of time,” he said.

The two factions have been battling for control of the PA government since Hamas took over from Fatah as majority party after a landslide victory at the polls in January.

An announcement last month by leaders of both factions that a new unity government would be formed proved meaningless after Hamas insisted it would never agree to formally recognize Israel’s right to exist, one of the demands of the Quartet Forum.

The United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, which comprise the Quartet, have also demanded that Hamas disarm and renounce violence as well as promise to uphold agreements signed by the previous PA administration.

Despite a statement released a week ago by Hamas officials that the impasse between Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Abbas would be overcome within two weeks, little progress has been made.


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End of Days Talkspot: SHALIT IN GOOD HEALTH

End of Days Talkspot: SHALIT IN GOOD HEALTH

The terrorist group, "The People’s Resistance Committee", in Gaza, were quoted in this article, posted on IsraelNationalNews.com, back in January 2007, to have claimed, "Gilad Shalit is in good health."

Please continue to pray for the safe return of the kidnapped Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit !!!

Please read original article below:

Terrorist Group: Shalit In Good Health

Original post: IsraelNationalNews.com

On: Jan 09, '07 / 19 Tevet 5767

The People’s Resistance Committee in Gaza claimed Tuesday that kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit is in good health. The terrorist group claimed that Shalit’s kidnappers are ready to care for him for years to come.

Gilad Shalit was kidnapped over six months ago while on patrol near Gaza.

His captors are requesting the release of over one thousand terrorists in exchange for his freedom.


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