Word: shalit
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...high time for Hamas to return that soldier," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a media conference on Wednesday in reference to the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, which precipitated the current Israeli offensive in Gaza. "It is high time then for everybody who has any influence on Hamas to make sure that that happens, and then we can get back on track...
...elected Hamas as their government - and polls show its support has actually grown during the current showdown. But the financial chokehold and the rising chaos it provoked has clearly weakened the authority of both President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. Haniyeh condemned the capture of Corporal Shalit, which surprised him as much as it surprised the Israelis, and demanded his safe return to Israel. Palestinian observers believe more radical elements in Hamas launched the operation that captured Shalit in part to undermine moves by Haniyeh and other pragmatists toward agreement with Abbas on pursuing a two-state...
...Still, when Secretary Rice talks of getting "back on track" once Hamas hands over Corporal Shalit, it's difficult to know what she means. There is currently no "track" involving Hamas, and no obvious incentive for movement to respond positively to her appeal. And the gunmen of Hamas appear to be out to show that even though Israel ignores the elected government, they can force it to bargain...
...expanded objectives of the Israeli campaign and the possibility that the escalation of fighting creates its own momentum, Israel's original purpose in reentering Gaza might soon be forgotten. "We have no intention of drowning in the Gaza swamp," said Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz Thursday, adding that if Shalit is returned the troops will pull back. But it is the confrontation in northern Gaza, far away from where Shalit is believed to be held, that threatens to spiral out of control...
...There is still a chance a deal could be worked out, though the efficacy of Egyptian mediation efforts are, at this point, questionable. Some reports assert that Shalit's captors have significantly scaled back earlier demands for the release of more than 1,000 prisoners. And Shalit's father, Noam, has publicly called for the Israeli government to release prisoners, as it has done in the past, in order to bring his son home...