mr president staff sergeant gilad shalit has now been held hostage by the jihadi fanatics of hamas for over three years
hamas claims it is a legal actor observing the geneva conventions and therefore he is a prisoner of war but israel in my view rightly regards him as an abductee from the moment he was seized
irrespective of his legal status and international law he has been cruelly kept incommunicado in gaza deprived of any contact with the outside world and even denied red cross access which the geneva conventions mandate
his family has no information about his well-being beyond one video and sporadic indication from hamas that he is still alive and well
if hamas has any claim to be taken seriously by the international community it should at least now show unequivocally that the conditions of his incarceration adhere to international humanitarian laws
but we demand more than that
we demand his immediate and unconditional release
i make no secret of my opposition to dialogue with the terrorists of hamas an organisation committed to israel's annihilation but if we are ever to deal with hamas it must only be after gilad shalit has been liberated from his squalid captivity
