ISRAEL IS marking this weekend the fifth anniversary of the capture on the Gaza border of soldier Gilad Shalit, who was seized by Palestinian militants in a daring cross-border raid on June 25th, 2006.
Despite years of arduous negotiations via German and Egyptian mediators, Israel and Hamas have failed to agree on the details of a deal under which Israel would release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in return for the captive soldier, now aged 24.
Some of the detainees slated to be released were directly involved in terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians, and are classified by Israel as having “blood on their hands”. According to media reports, the sides were unable to agree on how many of these militants will be forced into exile, and how many would be allowed to return to their West Bank homes.
Polls show that a majority of Israelis are in favour of a prisoner swap, and the issue has a particular resonance in a country where most families have a relative or friend serving in the armed forces.
There are about 7,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and the issue is also an emotive one for Palestinian society.
The last sign of life from Gilad Shalit came when his Hamas captors released a videotape in September 2009. The soldier, who appeared to be relatively well, appealed to the Israeli government to save his life.
Yesterday the International Red Cross issued a statement criticising the fact that Hamas has never allowed visits to the soldier.
But Salah al-Bardaweel, a senior Hamas official in Gaza, rejected the call for a visit, saying that Israel would use such a humanitarian gesture to try to find out where the soldier was being kept.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that although the government remained committed to seeing the safe return of Mr Shalit, meeting the Hamas conditions “would endanger the safety and security of Israeli citizens”.
Mr al-Bardaweel described the Hamas demands as “minimal”, and said there was “no room for bargains”.
Yesterday Israeli troops began dismantling the West Bank separation fence around the village of Bilin, near Ramallah.
Bilin became the focus of the protest movement against the barrier with Israeli and foreign activists joining the weekly Palestinian protest held every Friday in the village.
In 2007 the Israeli supreme court ruled that the fence around Bilin must be rebuilt as it cut off villagers from their fields.