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Shalits petition court: No cease-fire without Gilad By Tomer Zarchin and Amos Harel The parents of abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit petitioned the High Court of Justice last night, requiring Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and senior ministers to justify why they agreed to a deal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip that does not include the release of their son. Noam and Aviva Shalit filed the petition on behalf of their son, arguing that his most recent letter - delivered from the Gaza Strip via the Carter Center in Ramallah two weeks ago - he has empowered them to turn to the court. Advertisement In their petition, the Shalit family is asking the court to issue an injunction instructing the government to justify the reasons for implementing a deal that would reopen the crossings to the Gaza Strip and lift economic sanctions on the Strip, without ensuring Gilad Shalit's release or guarantees that he would be freed. The petitioners also ask the government to justify why it has agreed to implement the deal with Hamas without Shalit being transferred to Egypt, or guarantees of his transfer to Egyptian custody. The petitioners are also asking that Olmert brings the deal before the ministerial committee for national security, for renewed deliberations. The Shalit family is asking the court to convene urgently to deliberate their their petition. The family stated that since the abduction of Gilad during a raid by Hamas and other Gaza-based militants against an IDF position inside Israel on June 25, 2006, they have held a series of meetings with the relevant government authorities, including the Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The Shalit family say that they were promised that any agreement for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip would also include Gilad's release. The petitioners maintain that when the cease-fire deal was brought before the relevant ministers for discussion on June 11, they authorized it in view of unequivocal assurances that the release of Shalit was an integral part of the agreement. "To the amazement of the petitioners," the petition states, "through media releases in Israel and abroad in recent days they learned that a deal was reached between Israel and Hamas through Egyptian mediation, but the deal does not include any reference to Gilad, nor to his release." Meanwhile, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, one of the senior ministers against whom the petition was filed, believes that there is a need to expedite talks for a deal that would gain the release of Shalit. "This will require real concessions," sources at the Defense Ministry told Haaretz yesterday. "The negotiations with Hamas will be renewed, but we do not have all the time in the world. We must not make mistakes here that will lead to the disappearence of Gilad," the sources added. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Sarkozy's promise 'France will never compromise Israel's security' Israel's agenda Is an Israeli strike on Iran still on the government's agenda?

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