Gilad Shalit is HERE !

'Israel knows exactly where Shalit is held'

By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent

The London-based pan Arabic daily Asharq al-Awsat on Sunday quoted a senior Israeli defense official as saying that Israel knows exactly where Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit is being held captive, and that the location is under constant Israeli surveillance.

Shalit was kidnapped by Gaza militants in a cross border raid in June 2006. Hamas, the rulers of Gaza, have demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails in exchange for the soldier's freedom.

According to the report, the official said that if Israel so desired it could take the risk and storm the place, but the fear that Shalit might get hurt is preventing Israel from launching such an operation.
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Hamas is aware of the fact that Israel knows where Shalit is held, the paper reported, and has consequently surrounded the location with explosives. Hamas has also issued a directive to kill Shalit if an Israeli attack is sensed, the paper said.

The paper said these remarks were made during an informal discussion surrounding the prisoner exchange talks.

Asharq al-Awsat further reported that one of the individuals present in the discussion said "Since we knew exactly where the secret Iranian nuclear reactor was before any Western intelligence body, and we knew about the Syrian reactor, is it logical that we wouldn't know where Shalit is?"

"We know where he is, but don't want to repeat the scenario of the evacuation of the soldier Nachshon Wachsman," he said. Wachsman was kidnapped by Hamas in 1994, and was killed during an Israeli attempt to rescue him.

On Friday, senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar said that Shalit will be set free within weeks or two months at most, suggesting that the Islamic group might show greater flexibility in upcoming negotiations.

Israeli officials said Friday's completion of a swap of 20 female Palestinian prisoners for a recent videotape of Shalit was the first stage in a bigger effort by Israel, Hamas and German mediators.

In an interview with German weekly Der Spiegel Zahar said his organization seeks to wrap up negotiations as soon as possible.

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