During a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee this morning, the deputy head of research for military intelligence said that the international community is not pressuring Hamas to release the captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. One exception to this lack of initiative, he noted, was Egypt, which he said has been very active in trying to bring the episode to a conclusion.?

According to the IDF officer, activity by other states in the international community is limited to discussions with Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) regarding the return of Shalit. On the other hand, he noted, Israeli military action in Gaza may well bring about international pressure to release the IDF captive.?