There should have been no ceasefire, no withdrawal of troops, & no humanitarian aid to Gaza until Shalit was released, unconditionally. The whole thing was bungled again by our trio of serial bunglers. Now, we have less leverage - but the crossings can remain closed, absolutely no humanitarian aid, & no financial assistance until Shalit is released. We also missed a propaganda opportunity by forcing his release & showing Hamas defeated. As far as I'm concerned, we can continue targeting Hamas leaders until Shalit is released unconditionally - and the hell with world opinion. Playing hardball works.

Reflexing towards the headline and subject statements, I call of the words and wisdom of anphibious military great Gomer Pyle, when he stated: Well Gol-Leee! Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!"

As soon as they get out of theit rat holes they use the media to spread their lies. Who does he think he is, this kidnapper?

Israel lost once more , no political objectives gained : much to the contrary , no Gilad Shalit freed , and worst any peace initiative is dead at present as a result of the incursion in Gaza. One solution : talk to Hamas , lift the siege and let the Palestinians live as human beings : human beings they are. Jews have suffered , understand what suffering is and should refrain from making the Palestinians suffer. As the commandment goes : "Don't do to others what you wouldn't like them to do to you" Work for peace , struggle for peace , all the rest is useless.

he should have been the first condition of a ceasefire. we had no reason to call the ceasefire while they still had him

It turns out that Barak and Livni are incompetents that made a major mistake. If they had wanted to free Shalit, they should have released the 1000 Arab convicts before the military operation. After Shalit was safe, they could have used "Cast Lead" to capture or kill the released Arab convicts. They could have also called "Cast Lead" the price tag for the Shalit deal so that Hamas would no longer want to kidnap Israelis.

GILAD SHALIT IS WORTH MORE THEN THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF HAMAS GAZA!

All Palestinian prisoners in Israeli Jails. Every single man, woman and child especially those with 'blood on their hands' in exchange for Shalit. Either that or no exchange. We can afford to wait, can you?

...to negotiate; give the ultimatum: release shalit or gaza will be rubble!

In you opinion 1 Israeli is worth 11.000 palestinians. lol.