In an op-ed published Wednesday in the east Jerusalem newspaper al-Quds, the father of captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit
wrote, “It turns out that Hamas,
in its insistence on a very specific list of Palestinian prisoners it demands Israel release
in exchange for (my son), has been preventing the release of hundreds of thousands of additional prisoners.”
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“In essence, it turns out that Gilad Shalit is holding hundreds of thousands of Palestinian prisoners hostage and has forced hundreds of thousands of Gazans to live under siege and in poverty for over two years,” Noam Shalit
said in the piece, titled "Gilad Shalit – Hamas' captive?"
Shalit added, "Israel
and Hamas had previously agreed that in a future swap 450 Palestinian prisoners would be released in exchange for Shalit's freedom and an additional 500 would be released upon his return home, this in addition to the promises made by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
to (Palestinian President) Mahmoud Abbas regarding
the 'generous' release of Palestinians out of the thousands that are currently being held in Israeli jails.
"This is certainly relevant to prisoners who have laid down their arms and believe in compromise and the talks conducted between Israel and the Palestinian Authority; the majority of Israelis would not object to the release of these prisoners," he said.
"However, as time passes on it is becoming clear that Hamas' insistence on a very specific list of prisoners it is demanding Israel release in exchange for Gilad, including relatives of Hamas leaders, is preventing the release of hundreds and thousands of other Palestinian prisoners who could have been home a long time ago."
Shalit further wrote that the Gaza population is also being "held hostage", saying "In addition to the thousands of prisoners that are locked up in Israeli prisons and remain hopeless until Hamas decides to exhaust the Egyptian-mediated negotiations with Israel it had begun two years ago, and finalize the basic prisoner exchange deal, Gilad Shalit is also holding (hostage) hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, the civilian population that has been living under siege for over two years, short of essential provisions and poverty-stricken.
"The ceasefire agreement which came into effect on June 19 did not bring and will not bring a dramatic change in the situation. The number of trucks going into Gaza has slightly increased, but the truce did not bring with it the anticipated change or relief to the Gaza population.
A complete opening of the crossings for the transfer of goods, including the Rafah Crossing into Egypt, will not be possible or doable as long as the Shalit deal remains incomplete and unexecuted – despite Hamas' claims that the issue is unrelated to the Shalit deal.
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