Carter: Hamas Agrees to Deliver New Gilad ben Aviva Shalit Letter

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jimmy-carter1Hamas agreed to pass on a letter from abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad ben Aviva Shalit to his family, former President Jimmy Cater told the Qatar-based network Al-Jazeera on Friday, more than two year since such a missive was received by Israel.The previous letter Hamas allowed Shalit to pass on to his family, which was also mediated by the former U.S. president, was received in June of 2008.

In it, the IDF soldier, abducted in a cross-border raid near the Gaza Strip in 2006, said he had been “dreaming of the day of my release and am looking forward to seeing you again. I hope this day will come soon, but I know it’s not up to me or you.”

“I call upon the government to continue negotiating my release and refrain from focusing their efforts on releasing the soldiers in Lebanon,” Shalit’s 2008 letter said.

On Friday, in an interview with Al-Jazeera, Carter indicated that Hamas politburo Khaled Meshal voiced his agreement to deliver a letter from Shalit to his family during a recent meeting between the two in Syria.

During a recent visit to the Gaza Strip, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle Westerwelle called on Shalit’s captors to “let him go home to his family,” a day after meeting Shalit’s father Noam in Jerusalem.

Hamas has demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons in exchange for Shalit’s freedom, denying the Israeli prisoner regular Reed Cross visits.

The negotiations have been stuck in recent months following the German mediator’s failure to reach a deal. The previous round of talks broke down due to Israel’s rejection of Hamas’s demands.

Last week, Hamas’ Interior Minister Fathi Hamad addressed the ongoing negotiations over the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, saying that Israel wants to complete a prisoner exchange deal “at the lowest possible price” but that eventually it will come around and pay the full price Hamas demands.

{Haaretz/Matzav.com Newscenter}


4 COMMENTS

  1. Just thought of a great idea! Let’s exchange Carter for Shalit. It’s a win win situation since Carter will be so happy to spend all that time with his pals!

  2. Yidl, ,may none of our parents ever again have to deal with what the Shalits are going through.
    And I still don’t get why the responsible frum news sites, when they rework the wire stories, don’t incorporate the phrase Gilad ben Aviva somewhere in the article to remind us to stop for a moment and say a kapitel.

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