5 Years without Gilad Shalit

Today Israel observed 5 minutes of silence for Gilad Shalit; one minute for every year he has been held in captivity. 1,724 anguishing days that Gilad is away from his family since being abducted on 25 June 2006 by Hamas in a cross-border raid.

"For the past five years, the entire nation has been united in its hearts in the hope that Gilad Schalit will be here with us, healthy and whole," President Shimon Peres said at Tuesday's Negev Conference in Eilat.
This is Israel's humanity. Each soldier, each child is a child of Israel. As Peres said, "Schalit family, we feel like a part of your family. Gilad is a soldier in the IDF, and the entire country will not rest until he comes home," he added. "The negotiations for his release are difficult and  painful. We are fighting an organization that has no law and no heart, but we will not give up."

Shalit's father said that "five minutes symbolizes five years in captivity, in the darkness of Gaza, in caves or in basements of the Gaza Strip, and solitary isolation with no communication to the outside world."

WE ARE HERE WITH YOU GILAD!


You are in our thoughts and Israel and the world are fighting for you to return safely into our hands.