The father of an Israeli soldier seized by Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip spoke by telephone with a representative of the captors. The left-wing Voice of Peace radio station on Thursday connected Noam Shalit and Abu Obaida, a spokesman for three Palestinian terrorist groups holding Shalit’s son Gilad since June 25. During the conversation, which was broadcast live, Shalit implored the captors in Hebrew to show “flexibility” in their ransom demands. Abu Obaida, answering in Arabic, said the captors “want to find a solution” to the hostage crisis, but that the onus was on the Israeli government to act first. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has refused the captors’ demand for an initial release of hundreds of imprisoned Palestinians, calling it extortion.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
