VIDEO - IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi
said Monday that the army knows kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit is alive, where he is being held and by whom.
Speaking before new enlistees in the Military Induction Center, the IDF chief added, "We hope to be able bring this case to an end, as we returned Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser."
Video courtesy of Infolive.tv
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit released a statement two hours later, clariying that "what the chief of staff meant to say was that we know Gilad Shalit is being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. His remark offers no new information."
One of the new soldiers told the IDF chief, "After we complete our recruit service and advanced training, we will reach our line. But in the meantime, Gilad Shalit is in captivity and this is a very disturbing issue."
"That's a very good question," Ashkenazi replied. "There is no doubt that we have to bring him back, exert every effort in regards to this issue.
"I can't say I am pleased, but we completed the mission in the north and returned Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, unfortunately not alive, but we returned them to a Jewish grave. I can't go into details, but efforts are being exerted on the Gilad Shalit issue on all levels."
He also told the troops that Israeli soldiers "must always remember that if anything happens to them, we will make sure they are returned to their families."
Newly appointed Armor Corps commander, Brigadier-General Agai Yehezkel, also welcomed his new enlisted troops Sunday, saying
Hizbullah "may be surprised with just how ready we are to handle whatever it has in store."
The process the IDF had undergone since the end of the war, mainly that of training and combat readiness, positions us in a different place that we were two years ago," he told Ynet.
"I don’t thing Hizbullah would be a match for us and the Armor Corps is a key player in this – it is the heart and soul of military maneuvering and it has some of the most advanced weapons available at its disposal."
- Gilad Shalit was kidnapped
into the Gaza Strip 771 days ago.
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