Word: shalit
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...Israel public opinion has shifted steadily to the right of center, and polls show that most Israelis are dissatisfied with the outcome of the Gaza war - they wanted to see Hamas crushed and the safe return of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas for two and a half years. Neither goal was achieved, allowing Netanyahu to smugly declare, in a recent visit to soldiers wounded in the Gaza fighting, "The IDF has dealt Hamas a severe blow, but unfortunately the job has not been complete." He added: "We cannot show any weakness in the face...
...troops to occupy Gaza for a long time, with the potential risk of massive casualties. Instead, Olmert is hoping a large show of force will persuade Hamas to stop stockpiling long-range rockets and accept the terms of a new cease-fire, including the release of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was captured...
...coexist with the movement in order to ensure security along Israel's southern flank - hence the combination of "calm for calm" and the unrelenting economic siege. But even "calm for calm" represented what Israel saw as an unacceptable humiliation, as Hamas continued to hold the kidnapped Corporal Gilad Shalit as a hostage - for more than two years now - to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners...
Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire in June. Israel wants the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, and is extremely wary of becoming embroiled in a military operation in Gaza with no clear exit strategy. Hamas needed the truce to relieve the catastrophic economic strain on Palestinians imposed by the Israeli siege and to consolidate its control over Gaza. And so, for very different reasons, the two sides found themselves negotiating - not directly, because neither side recognizes the other - but through an Egyptian mediator. But in the past few weeks, the cease-fire has all but broken...
...This was a must. We had to destroy the tunnel," one Israeli official told TIME. "Hamas was going to use it to try kidnapping more Israeli soldiers." Corporal Gilad Shalit, captured by Palestinian militants in June 2006 during a cross-border raid, is still being held in Gaza, and Hamas is hoping to trade him for hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails. The last thing the Israeli army wants is for Hamas to grab another hostage...