As of: 10/18/2021 4:00 a.m.
Ten years ago the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit returned to his homeland – after five years in Hamas captivity. Around 1,000 Palestinians were released for him. Hamas would like to repeat such an exchange.
In October 2009 a video goes around the world. It shows a young man wearing a green shirt that looks like a uniform. “I am Gilad, the son of Aviva and Noam Schalit. Today is Monday, September 14th, 2009. As you can see, I am holding in my hands today’s edition of the newspaper ‘Palestine’, published in Gaza.”
At that point in time, the Israeli soldier had already been held by Hamas for three years. Gilad Shalit was 19 years old when he served in the army on the Gaza border in 2006. Militant Palestinians entered Israel through a tunnel, attacked an army post and took the young soldier to the Gaza Strip.
What followed: tough negotiations. Protests by Gilad Shalit’s family, who demanded more effort from the Israeli government. And great controversy in Israeli society. Because the price that Israel paid for the release of the soldier was high. 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, including those convicted of deadly terrorist attacks, were released for Shalit. An employee of the German Federal Intelligence Service was also involved in the negotiations.
“The time there was hard and very long”
Exactly ten years ago a military helicopter landed on a base in central Israel. A video shows the then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stepping towards the helicopter’s loading hatch. A very pale, emaciated young man appears and salutes: Gilad Shalit, after five years of imprisonment.
Ten years later: One of Gilad Schalit’s rather rare public appearances. He is now in his thirties. Israeli TV channel 12 shows him encountering a group of Holocaust survivors. “I was able to listen to Israeli radio in the Gaza Strip at the time. It was very difficult because reports of negotiations often ended in disappointment. The time there was hard and very long. But as you can see, I am fine today. I work and run a whole normal life.”
Is there another exchange coming soon?
Ten years after the release of Shalit, the focus is on four Israelis who are probably still in the Gaza Strip: two civilians who went to the Gaza Strip in 2014 – probably because of mental problems. And the bodies of two soldiers killed in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian politics professor Mukhaimar Abu Saida believes that Hamas is very interested in a new deal: “Hamas wants to maintain its current popularity among the population. One way of achieving this is to exchange prisoners with Israel again. The question is, however : Is Israel able to agree to such an exchange? ” Abu Saida is skeptical: The release of many Palestinian prisoners would strengthen Hamas in the internal Palestinian power struggle with the Fatah movement. Israel cooperates with them indirectly.
Israel seeks another way
The Times of Israel journalist Judah Ari Gross also has doubts. Many Palestinian prisoners who were released for Gilad Shalit ten years ago have rejoined terrorist organizations. “Israel does not want to go back to a classic exchange of prisoners. It is therefore relying on a new model: Israel wants to link the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip to the release of the Israelis. But I am not sure whether Hamas will currently accept this.”
The Israeli journalist believes that Palestinian militants may try again to kidnap an Israeli soldier. Because, as cynical as it sounds, an Israeli is very valuable in the hands of Hamas.
Precious Prisoner Gilat Shalit – Ten years after his release, Israel and Hamas are negotiating another prisoner exchange
Benjamin Hammer, ARD Tel Aviv, October 17, 2021 10:41 p.m.