By Xinhua
Gaza : A spokesman for Islamic Hamas movement’s armed wing said on Saturday that Gilad Shalit, the captive Israeli soldier in Gaza since June 2006, hasn’t recently conveyed any letter to his family.
Abu O’beida, al-Qassam Brigades spokesman said in a statement that “Shalit’s case is kept closed for the moment, and there is no possibility to carry or convey a letter from him or to him.”
The statement was a reaction to earlier reports saying that Shalit’s captors accepted to send a video tape for Shalit to his family in Israel “for reopening Rafah borders crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.”
Abu O’beida said “this is totally untrue, and we never heard of it, but only through mass media. We reject to make such kind of a deal and we didn’t receive any offer from anybody.”
Three militant groups led by Hamas kidnapped Shalit in late June last year in an armed attack on an Israeli army base near the borders between southeastern Gaza Strip and Israel.
The groups said Shalit would be only freed “if Israel frees 1300 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including children, women, patients and prisoners spend life sentences.”
Last week, 2300 Gaza pilgrims headed for pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia through the closed Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. The crossing has been closed since Hamas movement took control of Gaza in mid June.
“The travel of pilgrims from Gaza to Saudi Arabia through Egypt has nothing to do with Shalit’s case,” Abu O’beida said. Egypt is a major mediator between Israel and Shalit’s captors.
He added that “in the current time, Israel should not even dream to convey a letter to Shalit or receive one from him. The ball now is in the Israeli side of the playground.”