Mere Rhetoric: Gilad Shalit Is Alive, Forced To Say That Hamas Is Letting Him Die (Updated: Shas Leader Calls For Direct Prisoner Talks With Hamas)

Original: Bastards:

Hamas on Monday released a recorded message from captured IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Schalit. In the message, posted on the Web site of Hamas's military wing, Schalit sent greetings to his family and said his health was deteriorating. He also expressed disappointment in the government's "lack of interest" in his fate... "Mother and father, my sister and brother, my friends in the Israel Defense Forces. I greet you from prison and miss you all," he said. "I have spent a full year in prison, and my health is still deteriorating, and I need a prolonged hospitalization. I regret the lack of interest on the part of the Israeli government and the Israel Defense Forces in my case and their refusal to meet the demands of the al-Kassam brigades," he added. In the tape, Schalit also called on the government to meet Palestinian demands for a large-scale prisoner swap"

And it goes on from there. Everyone says that the statement was coerced (duh) - both because that's just not the way that somebody normal talks and because the Hebrew (downloadable from here) is not the way that an Israeli talks. Nonetheless:

(1) Someone needs to introduce Hamas to the concept of laws of war. We nominate the Euroepans, who have been so eager to recognize Hamas as a legitimate government. If Hamas is all about how Shalit is a prisoner of war, then they don't get to parade him around and humiliate him for propaganda purposes. Who do they think they are, Iran?

(2) Failing that, somebody needs to explain to Hamas that it's generally considered poor form to claim that (a) you have no idea where someone is and (b) release coerce audiotapes of him. Are we crazy to think that the Israeli officials who are now saying "umm... this kind of proves that Hamas is responsible for Gilad's fate" have a point.

(3) There's a very quick way to fix Gilad's "deteriorating health" (which, for what it's worth, there are contradictory statements about): return him to Israel. As someone wounded by Hamas in a surprise attack, he could come along with any of the dozens of Palestinian civilians that Israel has been accepting out of Gaza for the last couple weeks. He'll fit right in. Except for the part where it's not really his fault that Hamas was elected, in sharp distinction to many of the Gaza civilians that Israel has been helping: that part's different.

Israel should invade the Gaza Strip and bring Shalit home. This is getting ridiculous. Of course, they might be hesitating because committing militarily to the Gaza Strip would give Syria and Hezbollah opportunities to attack from the north - despite two separate UN peacekeeping missions up there. It's a good day for international law and anti-Israel double standards.

Update: Our usual line on prisoner swaps is "we're not sure what to do, and you're not sure either". These things are insanely complicated and heartbreaking. People from all over the political spectrum react in different and often idiosyncratic ways. Example: anyone want to claim that Eli Yishai is a terrorist appeaser? (memo to our religious Israeli readers: careful, careful):

Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) called for direct talks with Shalit's kidnappers. "In the past, during fighting, we held direct and indirect negotiations with enemies to retrieve captives. So far it seems that indirect talks via Egyptian mediators did not help and did not lead to Shalit's release. "Direct negotiations with the soldier's kidnappers should be considered. The tricky situation in the Palestinian Authority leaves us with no choice but to thoroughly examine the possibility of direct negotiations," Yishai said.

So yeah. 24 hours ago - before this tape - we would have said: "releasing prisoners is inevitable - that's just what happens every decade or so in the Israeli-Arab conflict, so the question is whether to do it in the context of a deterrence-eviscerating prisoner swap or not - and the answer should probably be not." Now? Yeah, we dunno.

Here's an interesting idea to bat around: how about conditioning humanitarian aid to Gaza on Shalit's release? It's not collective punishment because it's sanctions against a government that was elected - and elected with huge support from the Gaza Strip.

References:
* Hamas releases recording of captured soldier's voice [JPost]
* Decades Of Internationally Sanctioned Vicious Resentment Have Turned Inward [MR]

Previously:
* It's Official: The Internationally-Recognized Palestinian Government Is Holding Gilad Shalit Hostage
* Abbas: Hamas Will Free Shalit Soon. Hamas: No We Won't.
* Shalit Kidnappers Were Palestinian Authority Employees