Father of Hamas-held soldier blasts Israeli government

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

JERUSALEM (AFP) — The father of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was captured by Gaza militants in 2006 accused the government of failing to do enough to seek the release of his son, who turned 22 on Thursday.

"Politicians are dragging their feet. The prime minister (Ehud Olmert), who pledged to get Gilad released ... might not be determined enough, otherwise he would have resolved the issue," Noam Shalit told Israeli public radio.

Corporal Gilad Shalit was captured in a deadly cross-border raid on June 25, 2006, and is believed to be held in the Gaza Strip by the Islamist Hamas movement which rules the besieged Palestinian territory.

On Wednesday a group of Shalit supporter demonstrated near the Gaza border to mark the soldier's birthday and demand the...