Gilad Schalit      Petition

On Sunday, 06/25/2006, at 05:40 in the morning, a terrorist group of several Palestinians crossed the border south of the Gaza Strip into Israel through a tunnel near Kerem Shalom and attacked an army facility that was within the sovereign territory of Israel.

The force numbered 8-armed Palestinians. It penetrated about a hundred meters into Israeli territory and split into three groups. The first group shot at an armored car that stood there. It was empty so no one was hurt. The second group attacked an IDL post manned by soldiers of the Desert Patrol. This attack included explosives and gunfire from light weapons which wounded three Israeli soldiers. At the same time at least one rocket was fired and grenades were thrown at a tank positioned in the area. The tank was manned by four soldiers one of whom was Gilad Schalit. The missile hit the rear end of the tank causing the death of its commander and an additional soldier. One soldier was wounded.
Gilad Schalit, the fourth soldier in the tank, was wounded in the shoulder and was abducted from the tank and taken by the terrorists to the Gaza strip.

Gilad’s abductors were members of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (the military wing of Palestinian governing party Hamas), the Popular Resistance Committees (which includes members of Fatah, Islamic Jihad and Hamas), and the Army of Islam.

On Monday, 06/26/2006, the Palestinians declared they were willing to give information about Gilad in return for the release of all female and under 18 years old security prisoners held in Israeli prisons.

On Saturday, 07/01/2006, the Palestinians demanded an additional 1000 prisoners be released.

Two days later they set a 24-hour ultimatum. A few hours later Israel stated that it would not cede to the terrorists’ demands.

There is no information as to Gilad’s welfare as for now.