The prime minister delighted Israelis by announcing that no truce will be signed with Hamas until Gilad Shalit is released. To put it another way: Palestinian rockets will continue pounding Israel until she releases 1,400 terrorist prisoners in exchange for Shalit.
The government previously asserted that the truce is not conditioned on Shalit’s release. Now that Hamas has predictably rejected Israel’s conditions, Olmert looks for a face-saving way to trash hopes for a ceasefire.
In the meantime, the Egyptians intercepted a ton of explosives in Sinai, bound for Gaza.
It`s a bit one-sided to expect the Israeli government to release 1,400 terrorist prisoners for one soldier, innocent of any wrongdoing at that.
Why wasn`t the IDF able to find Gilad Shallit when the war was ongoing? They seemed pretty thorough in other ways, although I suppose it must be a bit like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I pray for his release.