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Hamas has released an audio tape with Gilad Shalit criticizing the Israeli government. Go figure. He's being held by terrorists who are ideologically dedicated themselves to Israel's destruction and think nothing of killing Israelis. The only reason Shalit may still be alive is because the terrorists think they can get the Israeli government to release hundreds of Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli jails in an exchange for Shalit.

No doubt the tape was made under duress and should not be used to construe how Shalit actually felt about the Israeli government.

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.

The Hebrew recording can be downloaded from http://www.blue-song.net/video//shallete.rmvb.

"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, "especially since I was in the middle of military service, on a military operation and I was not a drug dealer" - probably said in reference to Elhanan Tannenbaum, who was abducted by Hizbullah and released as part of a prisoner exchange deal in 2004 and subsequently admitted that he had entered Lebanon to conduct a drug deal.

Once again, we have signs that the terrorist group Hamas is behind Shalit's abduction and ongoing captivity. However, we have no idea when the tape was made.

It would also appear that the letter was writting by his captors and that he was coerced into saying those statements. Noam Shalit, Gilad's father, also believed the message was coerced, although Noam has been a critic of how the Israeli government has been handling the situation. Indeed, I've been a critic of how Olmert has dealt with the situation.

I'm leaning even stronger towards the idea of swapping humanitarian aid for Shalit's release. Gaza gets nothing from Israel unless Shalit is released. Why should Hamas benefit from Israel's humanitarian gestures while Hamas continues to agitate towards Israel's destruction.

At the same time BBC journalist Alan Johnston is now seen on a video tape wearing a bomb vest:


If someone attempts to rescue Johnston, his captors will blow him up. He's seen on the tape pleading with Hamas or the British government not to use military force to rescue him. He's also been told to say that negotiations are very close to succeeding in rescuing him. How much will that cost the BBC or the British government, as that can only mean that a ransom is likely in the works?

Meanwhile, al Qaeda's Zawahiri is urging Hamas to make Gaza an Islamist state. Go figure.

So, Olmert says that Hamas is out to destroy Israel. If that's the case, why provide humanitarian aid that frees up Hamas to continue using its ill-gotten funds to procure weapons and continue its fight. Humanitarian aid simply allows Hamas to devote more of its resources for the fight against Israel than to actually take care of the day to day tasks of providing for the Palestinians living in Gaza.

This week's summit is sure to produce some mighty interesting demands on Israel. Abbas wants Barghouti released from Israeli jail. Barghouti is serving a life sentence for his involvment in the murder of numerous Israeli citizens in an array of terrorist attacks. He's also primed to ask for more weapons and armored vehicles. Yes, so Fatah could lose and hand them over to Hamas? Thanks but no thanks. Some in Israel are also worried about the folly of giving Fatah weapons.

Others are concerned that this latest summit will be a sham. As I've been saying, it will be yet another opportunity for the other countries and Fatah terrorists to prod Israel to make concessions without Israel getting anything concrete in return. Vague promises to fight terrorism are insufficient. Fatah is unwilling to make a real peace with Israel since it calls for Israel's destruction. It has refused to eliminate provisions in its charter calling for Israel's destruction. Abbas cannot even make that largely symbolic gesture, so how can they be trusted to deal with the more substantial actions of cracking down on other terrorists in the West Bank or Gaza?

Israeli airstrikes killed an Islamic Jihad terrorist and wounded two other terrorists in Gaza. The dead terrorist was responsible for firing rockets at Sderot early in the day.

UPDATE:
So, the ties that bind are far stronger than previously noted: Fatah thugs were cooperating with Hamas thugs prior to the Hamas takeover of Gaza.

Palestinian security official says officers received money from Hamas in exchange for transferring information on deployment of Palestinian Authority forces in Strip

"Dozens of officers in the (Fatah-affiliated) security forces are suspected of cooperating with Hamas during the Islamist group’s takeover of the Gaza Strip,” a senior Palestinian security official said Sunday.

According to the official, some senior officers have been suspected of cooperating with Hamas even prior to the decisive round of clashes with Fatah. He said the officers received money from Hamas in exchange for transferring information on the deployment of Palestinian Authority forces in the Strip.

This is yet more evidence that no monies should be transferred to Fatah or Hamas, as they are both flip sides of the same coin - terrorists dedicated to Israel's destruction who will use whatever aid is provided by Israel and the West to further line their own pockets and wage war against Israel.

UPDATE:
Haniyeh thinks that the release of the Shalit tape is an act of goodwill. Sorry, but releasing Shalit is an act of goodwill. The tape is an act of unmitigated propaganda designed to increase pressure on Israel to cut a deal for a prisoner swap.

UPDATE:
Physicians For Human Rights says that Shalit's captors must treat his ailments.

The Physicians for Human Rights organization appealed to Gilad Shalit's captor demanding they arrange medical treatment for him. The organization's statement said that "preventing treatment is a serious violation of the rules of medical ethics".

How about releasing him? Isn't that a better way to ensure Shalit receives the kind of care he should be getting - complete with the moral and physical of support of his family and friends?

UPDATE:
Free Gilad is polling as to what course of action the government should take now that Gilad has been in the hands of Hamas for a year.

UPDATE:
Breaking news: Israeli PM Olmert to release 250 Fatah prisoners as 'gesture of goodwill'

Nothing good will come of this. Not the release of Shalit, nor that of Johnston. It will only signal that if Hamas and the other terrorists persist long enough, they'll get Israel to capitulate on their demands.

UPDATE:
It will be interesting to watch to see if there was a quid pro quo between Olmert's statement on releasing prisoners and whether Johnston or Shalit are released or other movement happens - particularly at the summit this week.

UPDATE:
Conflict Blotter has some indispensible reading today - both about the history of recent summits between Israel and its neighbors (short answer - no good has come of them, the long answer isn't any better), and about what Olmert may be up to - trying to give concessions to Fatah without actually making concessions. That's a neat trick considering the news of the prisoner release.

UPDATE:
Abbas, who also goes by the nom de guerre Abu Mazen, remains a thug, and those who continue to think he's the solution are pushing a fantasy. That's what I've been saying.

UPDATE:
Noam Shalit calls for a renewal of the ceasefire. Compare that with the ongoing Palestinian attacks against Israel. They aren't going to stop, and are likely to be emboldened by the capitulation by the Israeli government to release Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. Abbas is saying that it's a step in the right direction and that Israel must start talks for a Palestinian state. Hey, here's a news flash. Gaza is already in Palestinian hands - just not Fatah's. They're using it to go to war against Israel, and aren't willing to settle for just Gaza. They want the West Bank too. And Israel.

Egypt says that they'll renew efforts to mediate a deal between Hamas and Israel. Hamas says that Shalit's captors are treating him well. Israel's medical community could do a much better job at that, but they'll hold on to him until they get what they want.