Hoe begrijpelijk de frustratie van de familie van de ontvoerde Israëlische soldaat ook mag zijn, dit soort acties doet Israël waarschijnlijk geen goed.
Speaking by phone on Tuesday, the father also said that when it comes to the Israeli government, it was not a question of insufficient interest. "There is interest," he said, "but to my regret, there have been no results, so it doesn't help us."
Israël heeft aangeboden om 1.400 gevangenen vrij te laten voor Shalit, waaronder ook mensen met bloed aan hun handen, maar de lijst die Hamas Israël had overhandigd was een beetje teveel van het goede. Uiteraard zou iedere gevangenendeal waarin een royaal aantal gevangenen wordt vrijgelaten een enorme overwinning voor Hamas betekenen, dat zo gedaan krijgt wat Abbas op vreedzame wijze niet lukte. Dit zal haar polulariteit onder de Palestijnen verder vergroten.
De tape zal de druk op de Israëlische regering vergroten om nog verder te gaan: één van haar eigen soldaten die medische hulp nodig heeft en in een ondergrondse kerker ligt te rotten, dat is onverteerbaar. Na de succesvolle en gemakkelijke overname door Hamas van de Gazastrook zou een dergelijke deal - om een understatement te gebruiken - een verkeerd signaal zijn. Met dank aan Noorwegen en Yossi Beilin zal Hamas mogelijk binnenkort zijn tweede grote overwinning tegemoet zien.
Speaking by phone on Tuesday, the father also said that when it comes to the Israeli government, it was not a question of insufficient interest. "There is interest," he said, "but to my regret, there have been no results, so it doesn't help us."
Israël heeft aangeboden om 1.400 gevangenen vrij te laten voor Shalit, waaronder ook mensen met bloed aan hun handen, maar de lijst die Hamas Israël had overhandigd was een beetje teveel van het goede. Uiteraard zou iedere gevangenendeal waarin een royaal aantal gevangenen wordt vrijgelaten een enorme overwinning voor Hamas betekenen, dat zo gedaan krijgt wat Abbas op vreedzame wijze niet lukte. Dit zal haar polulariteit onder de Palestijnen verder vergroten.
De tape zal de druk op de Israëlische regering vergroten om nog verder te gaan: één van haar eigen soldaten die medische hulp nodig heeft en in een ondergrondse kerker ligt te rotten, dat is onverteerbaar. Na de succesvolle en gemakkelijke overname door Hamas van de Gazastrook zou een dergelijke deal - om een understatement te gebruiken - een verkeerd signaal zijn. Met dank aan Noorwegen en Yossi Beilin zal Hamas mogelijk binnenkort zijn tweede grote overwinning tegemoet zien.
Het is een kwestie van tijd voor de vrijgelaten gevangenen nieuwe Israëlische slachtoffers hebben gemaakt.
Ratna
___________________________________________
New York Times
Family of a Captured Israeli Soldier Gets Word to Hamas, via Norway
By ISABEL KERSHNER
___________________________________________
New York Times
Family of a Captured Israeli Soldier Gets Word to Hamas, via Norway
By ISABEL KERSHNER
Published: June 27, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/27/world/middleeast/27mideast.html
JERUSALEM, June 26 — Two weeks before Monday's release of an audiotape of a captured Israeli soldier in Gaza, his father set in motion a request to Hamas, the Islamic militant group holding the soldier, for some sign that the young man was alive.
Hamas released an audiotape that it said was of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was captured a year ago.
Seeking new channels of communication after a year with no word from the soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, his father, Noam Shalit, sought the assistance of Norway, the only European country to maintain ties with Hamas leaders, according to someone involved in the mediation.
In mid-June, Mr. Shalit traveled to Norway with Yossi Beilin, the head of the leftist Meretz Party in Israel, and met with Jonas Gahr Store, the Norwegian foreign minister, a spokesman for the Norwegian Foreign Ministry confirmed. A few days later, Sven Sevje, the Norwegian special envoy to the Middle East, met with the Hamas political chief, Khaled Meshal, in Damascus, Syria, on behalf of the Shalit family.
In the meeting with Mr. Meshal, the Norwegian envoy requested that either a Norwegian official or a representative of the Red Cross be allowed to visit Corporal Shalit in Gaza.
The request was denied, but Mr. Meshal said the Israeli soldier was in good health and promised to help produce a sign of life.
Mr. Shalit and Mr. Beilin both refused to comment on the meetings because of the delicacy of the case, but the individual involved in the mediation efforts and the Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokesman have confirmed the details.
In the audiotape, released on the anniversary of Corporal Shalit's capture in a cross-border raid by Hamas and two other militant factions, the Israeli soldier says he is being held by the Qassam Brigades of Hamas. He says he regrets the "lack of interest by the Israeli government and the army," and the lack of a "positive answer" to his captors' demands.
Hamas has demanded the release of hundreds of prisoners from Israeli jails in return for Corporal Shalit.
Noam Shalit said the voice on the tape sounded like his son's, but added that the text had clearly been dictated.
Speaking by phone on Tuesday, the father also said that when it comes to the Israeli government, it was not a question of insufficient interest.
"There is interest," he said, "but to my regret, there have been no results, so it doesn't help us."
The audiotape, which was first posted on a pro-Hamas Web site, raised questions about Corporal Shalit's health. On the tape, Corporal Shalit says that his health is deteriorating and that he is in need of "extended hospitalization."
On Tuesday, a Hamas official in Gaza, Osama al-Mezeini, told Islamic Jihad Radio that Corporal Shalit had not yet completely recovered from injuries he sustained during his capture, and that he needed better medical care. Mr. Mezeini said the soldier was being held in isolation in a location that did not provide adequate sanitary conditions for a wounded man.
Those statements contradict what Mr. Meshal told the Norwegian envoy, and could be a sign that the captors are trying to exert pressure as a catalyst for negotiations.
Israel, the United States and the European Union consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization, and refuse any dealings with it. But Norway, which is not a European Union member, maintains contact with Hamas and Israel.
The Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bjorn Jahnsen, said of the Shalit capture, "We raise the issue forcefully with anyone we speak to and we have contacts with all the groups."
But Mr. Jahnsen emphasized that Norway was not playing a major role in mediation efforts on Corporal Shalit's behalf; the main player in that regard, he said, is still Egypt.
Under Egypt's mediation efforts, Mr. Mezeini serves as the primary Hamas contact for Cairo. But the talks have stalled in recent months, partly as a result of fierce fighting among the Palestinian factions in Gaza and the escalation of hostilities in May between Hamas and other groups and Israel.
The Shalit issue has been further complicated by Hamas's violent takeover of Gaza and its routing of the Palestinian Authority and Fatah forces there less than two weeks ago. Egypt has transferred its diplomatic mission from Gaza to the West Bank, removed its security delegation from Gaza, and lined up in support of President Mahmoud Abbas, of Fatah.
Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, has promised that negotiations for Corporal Shalit's release will start again as soon as the situation in Gaza calms down, Israel Radio reported.
Representatives of the so-called quartet — the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations — met at the United States Consulate in Jerusalem on Tuesday for the first time since the Hamas takeover of Gaza. No statements were made after the meeting, which was attended by C. David Welch, assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/27/world/middleeast/27mideast.html
JERUSALEM, June 26 — Two weeks before Monday's release of an audiotape of a captured Israeli soldier in Gaza, his father set in motion a request to Hamas, the Islamic militant group holding the soldier, for some sign that the young man was alive.
Hamas released an audiotape that it said was of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was captured a year ago.
Seeking new channels of communication after a year with no word from the soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, his father, Noam Shalit, sought the assistance of Norway, the only European country to maintain ties with Hamas leaders, according to someone involved in the mediation.
In mid-June, Mr. Shalit traveled to Norway with Yossi Beilin, the head of the leftist Meretz Party in Israel, and met with Jonas Gahr Store, the Norwegian foreign minister, a spokesman for the Norwegian Foreign Ministry confirmed. A few days later, Sven Sevje, the Norwegian special envoy to the Middle East, met with the Hamas political chief, Khaled Meshal, in Damascus, Syria, on behalf of the Shalit family.
In the meeting with Mr. Meshal, the Norwegian envoy requested that either a Norwegian official or a representative of the Red Cross be allowed to visit Corporal Shalit in Gaza.
The request was denied, but Mr. Meshal said the Israeli soldier was in good health and promised to help produce a sign of life.
Mr. Shalit and Mr. Beilin both refused to comment on the meetings because of the delicacy of the case, but the individual involved in the mediation efforts and the Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokesman have confirmed the details.
In the audiotape, released on the anniversary of Corporal Shalit's capture in a cross-border raid by Hamas and two other militant factions, the Israeli soldier says he is being held by the Qassam Brigades of Hamas. He says he regrets the "lack of interest by the Israeli government and the army," and the lack of a "positive answer" to his captors' demands.
Hamas has demanded the release of hundreds of prisoners from Israeli jails in return for Corporal Shalit.
Noam Shalit said the voice on the tape sounded like his son's, but added that the text had clearly been dictated.
Speaking by phone on Tuesday, the father also said that when it comes to the Israeli government, it was not a question of insufficient interest.
"There is interest," he said, "but to my regret, there have been no results, so it doesn't help us."
The audiotape, which was first posted on a pro-Hamas Web site, raised questions about Corporal Shalit's health. On the tape, Corporal Shalit says that his health is deteriorating and that he is in need of "extended hospitalization."
On Tuesday, a Hamas official in Gaza, Osama al-Mezeini, told Islamic Jihad Radio that Corporal Shalit had not yet completely recovered from injuries he sustained during his capture, and that he needed better medical care. Mr. Mezeini said the soldier was being held in isolation in a location that did not provide adequate sanitary conditions for a wounded man.
Those statements contradict what Mr. Meshal told the Norwegian envoy, and could be a sign that the captors are trying to exert pressure as a catalyst for negotiations.
Israel, the United States and the European Union consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization, and refuse any dealings with it. But Norway, which is not a European Union member, maintains contact with Hamas and Israel.
The Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bjorn Jahnsen, said of the Shalit capture, "We raise the issue forcefully with anyone we speak to and we have contacts with all the groups."
But Mr. Jahnsen emphasized that Norway was not playing a major role in mediation efforts on Corporal Shalit's behalf; the main player in that regard, he said, is still Egypt.
Under Egypt's mediation efforts, Mr. Mezeini serves as the primary Hamas contact for Cairo. But the talks have stalled in recent months, partly as a result of fierce fighting among the Palestinian factions in Gaza and the escalation of hostilities in May between Hamas and other groups and Israel.
The Shalit issue has been further complicated by Hamas's violent takeover of Gaza and its routing of the Palestinian Authority and Fatah forces there less than two weeks ago. Egypt has transferred its diplomatic mission from Gaza to the West Bank, removed its security delegation from Gaza, and lined up in support of President Mahmoud Abbas, of Fatah.
Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, has promised that negotiations for Corporal Shalit's release will start again as soon as the situation in Gaza calms down, Israel Radio reported.
Representatives of the so-called quartet — the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations — met at the United States Consulate in Jerusalem on Tuesday for the first time since the Hamas takeover of Gaza. No statements were made after the meeting, which was attended by C. David Welch, assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs.
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