Israelis mark fourth year of soldier Shalit's captivity

AFP - Four years after Gaza-based Palestinian militants snatched Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, the chances of his release are looking remoter than ever and the family's patience is fast running out.
   
Shalit, now 23, was captured on June 25, 2006 by the Islamist Hamas organisation and two smaller armed groups in a deadly cross-border dawn raid.
   
But years of diplomatic efforts to secure his release, which almost saw a breakthrough in December, have since hit a brick wall.
   

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It is also four years since a strict blockade was imposed on Gaza in a bid to force its Hamas rulers into freeing Shalit, but the siege's conditions were eased dramatically this week as Israel bowed to a wave of global pressure.
   
Israel's U-turn on its siege policy came in the wake of a botched raid on a fleet of aid ships which were trying to run the blockade, which left nine foreign activists dead.
   
The move was a bitter blow for the Shalit family.
   
"It is a terrible feeling to learn that the prime minister has given in to international pressure without taking our son into account," Noam Shalit said, vowing to pursue a more aggressive campaign for his son's release.
   
"Four years, two prime ministers, two defence ministers and two chiefs of staff have failed -- they have all failed to bring Gilad home," he told AFP.
   
In those four years, two successive governments have explored various options for a prisoner swap with Shalit's Hamas captors.
   
Hamas wants Israel to release hundreds of prisoners, including several top militants responsible for killing scores of Israelis, in exchange for Shalit -- a price the Jewish state appears reluctant to pay.
   
Although Israel was reportedly prepared to release 450 prisoners, negotiations hit deadlock in December after the government presented an offer through a German mediator to which Hamas has still not responded.
   
On Tuesday, the soldier's 86-year-old grandfather Zvi Shalit managed to secure a long-awaited audience with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
   
But he emerged despondent, saying he was "not optimistic."
   
After years of on-off negotiations and no progress to show for it, the family's patience appears to be running out, with Noam Shalit urging Netanyahu to take the necessary "difficult and unpopular" decisions needed to bring his son home.
   
"I won't be happy if terrorists and dangerous murderers and people who have the potential to return to terror are released, but after four years, the time has come to make up one's mind, especially since the government is not proposing any other alternative and there are no negotiations right now and no response from Hamas to the German proposal," he told the Haaretz daily.
   
"So would the prime minister kindly make a decision and pay what is being demanded?"
   
Over the past four years, the Shalit family has waged an unceasing campaign for his release, meeting world leaders and other key figures in a bid to put pressure on Hamas.
   
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has assured the family of of his "full support" and said France was committed to securing the release of Shalit, who also has French nationality.
   
Earlier this week, thousands of people staged a large rally of support in Paris, with Noam Shalit himself due to lead another huge demonstration in Rome later on Thursday.
   
On Friday, the anniversary of his capture, thousands of yellow balloons will be released by supporters across Israel and the world -- yellow being the colour of support for the young captive who is being held in a secret location somewhere in Gaza.
   
And on Sunday, the Shalit family accompanied by thousands of supporters will set off on a march from their home in northern Israel to Netanyahu's Jerusalem residence, a distance of about 200 kilometres (120 miles.)
   
As the march heads south, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra will hold a free concert at a location near the Gaza Strip next week.
   
But as the new campaign to free Shalit gathers pace, his fate still lies in the hands of those involved in the negotiations -- the Israeli government and the radical Hamas movement.
   
"I only do what I can do," Noam Shalit said after four years spent battling for his son's release. "I fight to save Gilad and to bring him home."