MIDDLE EAST: Thousands of Israelis mark fifth birthday in captivity of Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, abducted by Palestinian militants in 2006

Record ID: 212737

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Thousands of Israelis mark fifth birthday in captivity of Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, abducted by Palestinian militants in 2006
  • Date: 29th August 2010
  • Summary: DEMONSTRATORS LISTENING TO SPEECH
  • Embargoed: 13th September 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA6S5F7WNRJRNMHBUNL8EKR8MIL
  • Story Text: Thousands of Israeli protesters gathered outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem on Saturday (August 28) to mark the fifth birthday in captivity of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
    The protesters called on the Israeli government to do all that was in its power to secure the release of Shalit.
    Shimshon Liebman, head of the campaign to free Shalit said that it was a sad day for Shalit's family.
    "Another sad, very sad event, that we are trying to mention again that Gilad Shalit is celebrating his fifth birthday in the prison of the Hamas without being able to give us any word, any voice, any message and we don't know from him anything," he said.
    Rotem, a 17-year-old protester from Jerusalem, said that the government has not done enough for the release of Shalit.
    "I want them (the Israeli government) to stand behind Gilad because he's a soldier that was sent by the government and in four years now they didn't do anything to bring him back," she said.
    In her speech at the demonstration, Aviva Shalit, Gilad Shalit's mother, called on Netanyahu to sign a swap deal with Hamas.
    "Take responsibility, the responsibility of a brave leader, sign the deal with Hamas and bring Gilad back home as soon as possible. I will not leave this place, I will not return to Mitzpeh Hila (Shalit family home in northern Israel) without my son Gilad. I will not rerun to Mitzpeh Hila until Gilad comes back. We will celebrate his next birthday at home, with Gilad," she said.
    Shalit, now 24, was captured by Palestinian militants who tunnelled from the Gaza Strip into a military base bordering Gaza in southern Israel in June 2006 and is believed to be held somewhere in the Hamas-ruled enclave.
    Negotiations mediated by Egypt and a German envoy have failed to bring about a prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas.
    Hamas maintains that Netanyahu has been delaying the swap by refusing to meet their demands.
    Netanyahu has said he would free 1,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, but balked at allowing those convicted of killing Israelis to go free in West Bank areas where he said they could launch further attacks.
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