Sarkozy to Noam Shalit: Gaza blockade won't free Gilad
On fourth anniversary of IDF soldier's kidnapping, French President Nicolas Sarkozy tells Shalit family, 'It is wrong to believe that creating a state of deprivation for Palestinian population in Gaza will bring his release'
On the fourth anniversary of Gilad Shalit's kidnapping, French President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote the IDF soldier's parents a letter saying, "It is wrong to believe that creating a state of deprivation for the (Palestinian) population will bring his release."
In the letter, which was relayed to Noam and Aviva Shalit through the Israeli embassy in Paris, Sarkozy said, "Like every French citizen, I am disgusted by how it is possible to deprive a human being of his liberty and even – with the exceptional of a few all-too-rare opportunities – to deny him contact with his family and friends," he wrote.
"This sort of inhuman treatment ignores internationally recognized conventions on the treatment of prisoners, foremost among them the right to visits from the Red Cross," the French leader said in the letter.
"No circumstances, even those imposed on the residents of Gaza, justify this type of behavior."
Gilad Shalit holds both French and Israeli citizenship. He was kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists during a cross-border raid on an IDF base near Gaza on June 25, 2006.
Addressing the Shalit family's criticism of the Israeli government's decision to ease the blockade on Gaza," Sarkozy wrote, "I understand the fears you have expressed over Gilad's fate in light of recent steps to ease the blockade on Gaza. But I remain convinced that we should not lose hope.
"Firstly, because it is wrong to believe that creating a state of deprivation for the (Palestinian) population will bring his release, which should indeed have happened long ago," he wrote.
"But most of all because, as you have yourselves pointed out, it is the negotiations conducted over the past few months that contain the real elements that can bring about Gilad's freedom."
