Gilad Shalit werd vandaag 5 jaar geleden ontvoerd en gegijzeld, en heeft sindsdien geen bezoek mogen ontvangen van wie dan ook, inclusief het Rode Kruis. Het laatste levensteken was zo’n 2 jaar geleden,
Het is goed dat het Rode Kruis deze eis herhaalt, maar het zal niks uithalen. Hamas is geen westerse organisatie die gevoelig is voor het soort argumenten dat het Rode Kruis en anderen gebruiken.
Netanyahu has said he is committed to seeking Shalit's release. But his rightist government balks at meeting Hamas' demands to free hundreds of prisoners, among them men convicted of lethal attacks, calling it too great a security risk.
Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas administration in Gaza, asked by reporters on Wednesday about the 5th anniversary of Shalit's capture, said: "The Palestinian resistance has some demands, and it is sticking with its demands."
Onlangs nog wees Hamas een voorstel af waarbij 1000 gevangenen zouden vrijkomen. Duizend! En daaronder de nodigen met ‘bloed aan hun handen’. Israel is bereid veel op te geven om Shalit vrij te krijgen, teveel naar mijn idee. Dit toont wel aan dat het niet aan Israel ligt dat hij nog niet vrij is. ‘Some demands’ vind ik dus nogal een lachertje.
The ICRC also urged Israel to allow relatives of Palestinian detainees from Gaza to visit them in custody in Israel.
Israel suspended visits in June 2007 in a move which the ICRC said contravened international humanitarian law and had prevented more than 700 families from seeing their detained relatives over the past four years.
Hier kan Hamas morgen een einde aan maken, door een deal zoals onlangs door Duitsland bemiddeld, te accepteren. Dan komen niet alleen duizend gevangenen vrij, maar zal aan dergelijke restricties ook een einde komen.
RP
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Red Cross demands Hamas prove Shalit is alive
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/red-cross-demands-hamas-prove-shalit-is-alive-1.369233?localLinksEnabled=false
International aid agency's unusual public appeal comes just nearly five years to the day the soldier was captured by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid from Gaza.
By Jack Khoury and Reuters
GENEVA, June 23 (Reuters) - The International Red Cross on Thursday urged Hamas to provide proof abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit is still alive.
The independent aid agency, in an unusual public appeal, said that Shalit's family had a right under international humanitarian law to be in contact with their 24-year-old son, who has been held incommunicado since captured by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid on June 25, 2006.
"Because there has been no sign of life from Mr. Shalit for almost two years, the ICRC is now demanding that Hamas prove that he is alive," the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said.
Hamas-led gunmen tunneled from Gaza into Israel to seize Shalit, who has been held at an unknown location in Gaza ever since. The last sign of life was a videotape released by his captors in September 2009 showing Shalit, pale and thin, pleading for his life.
"The total absence of information concerning Mr. Shalit is completely unacceptable," ICRC Director-General Yves Daccord said in a statement.
He has become a compelling symbol for Israelis, many of whom do compulsory military service and identify with his plight.
The ICRC has called repeatedly but unsuccessfully on the militant Islamist group to allow Shalit to exchange family news with his loved ones and to receive visits by ICRC officials.
Shalit is not considered a prisoner of war, as he was seized by an armed group rather than by forces of a state that has ratified the Third Geneva Convention. However, like all other detainees captured in conflict, he is entitled to humane treatment under the Geneva Conventions, according to the ICRC.
"Hamas has an obligation under international humanitarian law to protect Mr. Shalit's life, to treat him humanely and to let him have contact with his family," Daccord said.
His parents, Noam and Aviva, are in close contact with the ICRC and have come to its headquarters for talks over the years.
On Friday, the fifth anniversary of his capture, the parents have said they will spend the day in a tent plastered with signs urging Israeli leaders to bring their son home.
They have led a campaign to press Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a prisoner swap with Hamas.
Netanyahu has said he is committed to seeking Shalit's release. But his rightist government balks at meeting Hamas' demands to free hundreds of prisoners, among them men convicted of lethal attacks, calling it too great a security risk.
Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas administration in Gaza, asked by reporters on Wednesday about the 5th anniversary of Shalit's capture, said: "The Palestinian resistance has some demands, and it is sticking with its demands."
The ICRC also urged Israel to allow relatives of Palestinian detainees from Gaza to visit them in custody in Israel.
Israel suspended visits in June 2007 in a move which the ICRC said contravened international humanitarian law and had prevented more than 700 families from seeing their detained relatives over the past four years.
"The International Committee of the Red Cross urges Israel, on humanitarian grounds, to lift the suspension of family visits for all detainees from Gaza," it said in a separate statement issued earlier on Thursday.
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