Shalit supporters to march to Netanyahu's home

Supporters of Gilad Shalit announced on Sunday plans to hold a march from Tel Aviv to the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem, in an attempt to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a deal securing the release of the abducted Israel Defense Force soldier.

Amir Goldschmidt, from the youth headquarters for Gilad Shalit, said that the march will be participated by 300 future IDF recruits who will be carrying stretchers inscribed with the slogan "Don't bury him alive."

According to organizers, the march will start off near the Kirya army base in central Tel Aviv and culminate near the premier's residence.

On Friday, the eve of Rosh Hashanah, about 20 young Shalit supporters conducted a holiday dinner in the protest tent pitched near the Prime Minister's Residence, remaining in the tent until Sunday evening.

The holiday table had one empty chair as well as a plate with the traditional apple and honey reserved for Shalit.

Youth headquarter activists said that no one had come out of the Prime Minister's Residence and that they had not received a message from the PM, or from any other government official.

"We came here to remind the government of Israel that this is the fourth year in which we have had to celebrate the holiday without Gilad," Goldschmidt said, adding that he and fellow activists hoped they would "not have to stand here next year."

The Israel Prison Service is still withholding packages intended for Hamas prisoners jailed in Israel, despite the fact that Eid al-Fitr celebrations, the Muslim holiday which marks the end of the Ramadan fast, had begun on Sunday and is to last until Tuesday.

Shalit supporters said that the distribution of the packages will not be authorized until they have received confirmation that the holiday package Shalit's father Noam transferred over the Gaza Strip border for his son on Thursday had reached its destination.

On Saturday, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip said that it was too soon to declare prisoner exchange talks between Israel and Hamas a failure, and that the group still required more time to formulate a deal that would see Shalit's release.

"Even the German mediator is still studying the progress made in past talks," Youssef said.

Ahmed Youssef, a senior foreign ministry official for Hamas, added that it would take more than a few days or weeks.

"There are points of serious disagreement alongside others that can be resolved," he said, adding that Israel was still refusing to release Palestinian prisoners sentenced to particularly long jail terms, whose freedom Hamas is demanding in exchange for Shalit