By Xinhua,
Jerusalem : Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday said his government will exert itself to secure the safe return of a kidnapped soldier from the Palestinian movement Hamas.
The issue concerning Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped by Hamas-led militants two years ago and believed to be still alive, has become one of the hottest topics in the Jewish state, following a prisoner swap with the Lebanese group Hezbollah on Wednesday.
“I have called the Shalit family and promised them in all our names that we would do everything possible to bring Gilad Shalit home alive, healthy and whole as soon as possible,” Olmert told his cabinet at a weekly meeting.
The process “is neither simple nor easy, but we won’t rest until we bring Gilad home,” he added.
The Egypt-mediated talks over Shalit has been on hold since Hamas announced Wednesday that it halted the negotiations until Israel and Egypt open the closed Gaza Strip border crossings.
The Islamic movement is asking for the release of 1,000 Palestinians from Israeli jails, including women, children and patients, in return for Shalit, while Israel has agreed to free only 71.
Under the Israel-Hezbollah prisoner swap, Israel released five Lebanese prisoners and some 200 bodies of Arab fighters in exchange for the remains of two Israeli reservists seized by Hezbollah in July 2006.
Palestinian sources told Israeli daily The Jerusalem Post due to the latest prisoner swap, Hamas is unwilling to be flexible about Shalit at this time.
Ismail Haneya, prime minister of the deposed Hamas government ruling in the Gaza Strip, said Saturday that Hamas will not give in on “any issue” related to the release of Shalit.