Shalit’s father demands clarifications on the truce deal

The father of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli army soldier who was abducted by Palestinian fighters in June 2006, sent several letters on Wednesday to senior Israeli officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, demanding clarification on the Hamas-Israel cease-fire deal which was brokered by Egypt.

Gilad Shalit

The father, Noam Shalit, said that he is disappointed that Israel agreed to a truce deal before reaching a deal on the release of Gilad.

 

Israeli online daily, Haaretz, stated that Noam consulted with judicial official and considers his letters as the first step before heading to the legal system including the High Court of Justice in order to appeal against the truce deal.

 

He said that officials in Israel did not inform him on the details on the truce deal and added that he doubts that this deal will go into effect or if it will even advance the talks on the release of his son.

 

Amos also said that he is concerned that the opening of the Rafah Crossings would cause Israel to lose whatever power it has regarding the release of his son, and added that opening the Rafah Border Crossing would enable smuggling his son out of the Gaza Strip.

 

Yet, even if the crossing were opened, it would be monitored by European Observers,

 

He also said that he fears this issue would drag on for many years and will be a repeat of the case of Ron Arad, the Israeli soldier whose plane was shot down over Lebanon in 1986 and fate is still unknown.