Cpl. Gilad Shalit, by all accounts, was a funny, introverted youth with an talent with math who, neighbors in his small town of Mitzpe Hila in the Lower Galilee. Lower Galilee is a popular retreat for Israelis, and Shalit's family rents cabins to tourists. Shalit's father, an Australian diplomat, immigrated to Israel from Australian, and Cpl. Shalit was the eldest of 5 children. True to his quiet nature, he chose to serve his country in a tank unit and had been in the service for 11 months.
Apparently the prior news we read about another hostage (18 year old settler Eliyahu Asheri who was also abducted last weekend) being found dead is true and that the IDF acted on intelligence to find his body. This would lead one to assume that the Israeli news reports before the discovery that they had detained one of the possible kidnappers might be the case. However, how far is this confrontation going to go until Cpl. Gilad going to go? This has all the earmarkings of a full scale war - Reuters reports that Gaza militants claim they have launched chemical warheads into Israeli terroritory, but Israel doesn't confirm this is the case. It might be noted though that Israel does not appear to be backing down at all, having arrested some important Palestinian people:
CNN: The West Bank, four Cabinet ministers -- Labor Minister Mohammad al-Barghouti, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Khaled Abu Arafeh, Minister of Local Governments Issa al Jaabari and Religious Affairs Minister Naif al Rajoub -- were arrested along with four legislators, according to Palestinian sources.
Finance Minister Omar Abdul Razek was being questioned by soldiers, the sources said.
Israel believes that both the abductions and subsequent prisoner exchange the militants want was orchestrated by some of the very people they arrested. According to reports, Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said the plan was approved by an exiled Hamas political leader living in Damascus.
Israel seems to have made Cpl Galit, as we call it here in the States, a "project." The question is, how far does the project go to be successful?
And how many of the Middle East countries who support Palestine are going to get involved? Are we on the brink of full scale Middle East war?
Tags: Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Israel, Israeli, Galit, Asheri, Gaza
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