By Stan Goodenough
Jun 10, 2008
Two years of torment were heightened again this week for the family of an Israeli soldier kidnapped and held by Hamas as a bargaining chip with which to secure the release by Israel of hundreds of "Palestinian" prisoners.
According to the father of Corporal Gilad Schalit, the Ramallah-based carter Center Sunday delivered a letter written - apparently recently - by his son, in which the 21-year-old pleaded with Israel's government to do everything possible to free him.
"I dream of coming home," Schalit reportedly wrote, adding that he is in poor health and that he hoped his country would not abandon him to his fate.
Schalit was wounded by his kidnappers, who broke through the fence surrounding Gaza on June 25, 2006, killing two IDF soldiers and wounding a number of other troops before scuttling back into the Strip with their captive.
A year ago, Hamas released an audio tape on which Schalit said he was in need of protracted hospitalization due to his deteriorating health.
More recently Jimmy Carter, a former US president with a reputation for giving terrorists kid-glove treatment, told Schalit's family Hamas had informed him that the young man was in good health.
Carter is believed to have facilitated the handover of Schalit's letter pursuant to his aim of putting a "more human" face on Hamas.