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free Gilad Shalit

Gilad Shalit, born 28 August 1986, is an Israeli soldier who was captured in a cross border raid on the crossing Kerem Shalom from the Gaza Strip by Palestinian terrorists on 25 June 2006 and has been held hostage by Hamas since. Shalit, a soldier in the IDF Armor Corps, held the rank of corporal at the time of the incident but has since been promoted to staff sergeant. He became the first Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian terrorist forces since Nachshon Wachsman in 1994. His abduction and the following cross border raid by
Hezbollah, resulting in the abduction of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev into Lebanon, were key events leading up to the second Lebanon war during the summer of 2006.

His parents, brother and sister have no knowledge of his condition or whether he's alive or dead.On 25 June, 2007, the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem issued a statement saying, "international humanitarian law absolutely prohibits taking and holding a person by force in order to compel the enemy to meet certain demands, while threatening to harm or kill the person if the demands are not met," and thus holding Gilad Shalit as a hostage to their demands is a war crime.

Shalit's denied rights to Red Cross (ICRC) visitation were also noted as a violation of international law. Abu Mujahid of the Palestinian terrorist organization Popular Resistance Committees has claimed that Shalit is a prisoner of war and is being treated according to Islamic law.

Personal Life

Shalit was born on 28 August 1986 in Nahariya, Israel, and was raised from the age of two in Mitzpe Hila in the western Galilee. He graduated with distinction from Manor Kabri High School. Shalit began his military service in the Israel Defense Forces in July 2005, and "despite a low medical profile, he preferred to serve in a combat unit, following his elder brother Yoel into the armored corps." He holds dual Israeli and French citizenship. The St. Paul JCC as well as the Twin CitiesJewish community hope and pray for the safe and quick return of our son, brother and friend Gilad Shalit.

For more information, contact:
Alisa Warshavsky, Shlicha (Israeli Emissary): 651-255-4753