Gilad Shalit is a former Israel Defense Forces soldier who was held captive in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip from June 2006 to October 2011. Efforts to secure his freedom eventually resulted in a prisoner exchange that saw the release of 1,027 Palestinian inmates.
Shalit was born in Nahariya to Aviva and Noam, and was raised from the age of two in Mizpe Hila in the Western Galilee. He has an older brother and a younger sister, and also holds a French passport.
When he turned 18, Shalit was drafted into the IDF armored corps. On June 25, 2006, the then 19-year-old corporal and his comrades were manning a post alongside the Israel-Gaza border when Palestinian gunmen opened fire on their position. The gunmen had dug a tunnel underneath the Gaza barrier, allowing them to reach the position undetected. Two IDF soldiers were killed in the attack, three were wounded, and Shalit was led by his captors into Gaza. Three days after his abduction, IDF forces entered Gaza in an attempt to locate and retrieve him. In the operation, 277 Palestinians and five Israeli soldiers were killed, but Shalit was not returned.
Immediately following his capture, Hamas demanded the release of all female Palestinian prisoners and all prisoners under the age of 18 from Israeli jails in exchange for information on Shalit. Israel refused, and on July 1, 2006, his captors demanded the release of a further 1,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.
In June 2007, one year after his abduction, the Hamas military wing, Iz a-Din al-Qassam, released an audio tape in which Shalit is heard appealing for a prisoner-swap deal to be reached to secure his release.
In October 2009, in exchange for the release of 20 female Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, Hamas released a videotape of Shalit, in which he appeared to be in good health. Since his capture, neither the Red Cross nor any other external organization has been allowed access to the soldier in order to independently assess his physical and mental condition.
Shalit's parents waged a spirited campaign to pressure the Israeli government into reaching a deal that would free him. He has also been subject of various international campaigns and support groups, and was named an honorary citizen of Paris in December 2008.
Since the beginning of the year, the Israel Defense Forces has counted 27 attempted or planned abductions of soldiers, mainly by terrorist cells. Some of the prisoners freed in the deal for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit are encouraging other terrorists to abduct soldiers.
by Gili Cohen 5 comments
Nablus man confesses to Shin Bet security services that prisoner released in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit offered to pay him $60,000 to carry out a shooting attack on a West Bank road.
by Gili Cohen 12 comments
Among those scheduled to appear at Wednesday's ceremony are two convicted terrorists released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal.
by JTA 11 comments
In public appeal, group including Amos Oz and A.B. Yehoshua says it sympathizes with Samer Issawi's cause, worry his death 'will add another facet of tragedy and desperation' to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
by Chaim Levinson 27 comments
Samer Issawi, who has refused solid food for eight months in protest of his imprisonment in Israel, directs a message on Facebook to Israeli activists and intellectuals, calling on them to intervene and help free him.
by Jack Khoury 14 comments
Ayman Sharawneh, one of hundreds freed in 2011 in exchange for Gilad Shalit, was arrested again in January 2012, agreed to confinement in Gaza for ten years, lawyer says.
by Amira Hass and Gili Cohen 5 comments
When we went to speak to President Mahmoud Abbas last month, Menachem Froman told him: I look forward to being a citizen of the State of Palestine. Abu Mazen responded that he looked forward to giving him a Palestinian passport.
by Gershon Baskin 9 commentsAyman Sharawna, one of the prisoners released in the swap to free Gilad Shalit, will have a petition debated today in the High Court of Justice. At the core of the debate is the character of Israeli military law.
by Amira Hass 0 comments
Changes in military law allow IDF and Shin Bet to rearrest any released prisoner until the end of his or her original sentence, on the slightest pretext, and often relying on secret evidence.
by Amira Hass 18 commentsThe purpose of Operation Pillar of Defense was to redress the failings of the Second Lebanon War, repair the failings of Operation Cast Lead, and fix the failing of Israeli intelligence that could have brought Gilad Shalit home immediately after his abduction.
by Ari Shavit 2 comments
