The family of soldier Gilad Shalit is concerned for his well-being as we approach his second anniversary in custody next week.

Over the weekend it was reported in the London-based Arabic language Al-Shark Al-Awsat newspaper that while Israel appears to be making progress towards signing another truce with Hamas in Gaza, the deal will not include the release of Shalit, despite statements by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that without Shalit, there would be no deal. Both Israeli and Egyptian officials involved in the talks deny the accuracy of the report. Hamas officials on the other hand released numerous statements last week that there is no way Shalit will be released in a truce deal, explaining his release depends on Israel’s willingness to release 100s of terrorists.

Noam Shalit, Gilad’s father, stated that “there is election fever in the air” and everyone releases statements favorable to their electorate. He added that a number of senior officials, including the prime minister, have assured him there would be no deal with Hamas without Gilad, but he is skeptical regarding the signing of a deal with the terror organization.

Egyptian sources seeking to mediate a deal have told Israel they are unaware of Shalit’s location, explaining his captors’ fear Israel may attempt to free him in a military operation and as such, they have moved him every 2-3 days since he has been in captivity in Gaza.

A senior unnamed Egyptian official quoted in the daily Yediot Achronot stated that reports that Shalit is surrounded by hand grenades and explosives to make a military operation nearly impossible are simply untrue, stating that this may be used by Israel to explain why the IDF has not acted. The truth is he explains is that Israel simply does not know his whereabouts. He added that as Israel involves other countries in efforts to obtain Shalit’s release, Hamas continues to up the price of such a deal.

The senior official adds that since his country began negotiations towards closing a deal, they have dealt with middlemen and have never had direct contact with Shalit’s kidnappers. He adds that Hamas leader Khaled Meshal has given the order not to harm Shalit in any way since he is the key to the release of hundreds of prisoners held by Israel.

In the meantime, Noam Shalit, his family and friends are busy working to arrange a solidarity parade that will be held on 25 June, marking the second anniversary of the Kerem Shalom attack in which Gilad was taken prisoner.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)