Word: shalit
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...GILAD SHALIT, an Israeli soldier held captive by Palestinian militants since June 2006, in an Oct. 2 video. The tape, provided in exchange for the release of 20 female Palestinian prisoners, is the first evidence since June 2008 that Shalit is still alive...
...Even before the Goldstone-report fiasco, Hamas was on a roll. It scored fresh popularity points on Oct. 2 by securing the release of 20 Palestinian women from Israeli jails in exchange for a video confirming that Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, captured by Gaza militants in 2006, is alive. The German- and Egyptian-mediated swap stirred up fresh hope on both sides that an exchange of Shalit for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners was close at hand. Prime Minister Haniyeh personally greeted the final prisoner in the swap with flowers, underscoring the political gains to be made on the prisoner-release...
...while they've been working diligently to free Shalit, Israeli politicians have also been wary of appearing too eager to negotiate for his return. The price Hamas has demanded for his release is high: 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom Israel considers to be dangerous terrorists. Hamas also wants Israel to lift its blockade of the territory before the next Palestinian elections, tentatively set for early next year. But Israel fears that giving in to the demands on the prisoners will encourage Hamas to capture more soldiers in the future. And as much as the Israeli public is clamoring...
...surprisingly, the pressure on Israeli politicians to rescue Shalit has been intense. Before he left office in March, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert attempted a last-minute push to gain Shalit's freedom by offering to release Palestinian prisoners in return for the soldier, but negotiations between the two sides failed. When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came into power, he appointed a new chief negotiator and brought in German mediators to help the Egyptians already on the case...
...Though the group survived Israel's last incursion in January with its military infrastructure intact, it is under increasing pressure from Palestinians to show that its defiance of Israel has been worth the cost of Palestinian lives and the destruction of the Gaza Strip. And ironically, the release of Shalit, if it eventually happens, could increase pressure on Israel to talk seriously about the final status of a Palestinian state, a subject that until now the Netanyahu government has avoided. Dodging final status talks has been easy enough when Hamas was firing rockets from Gaza into Israel and Hamas...