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Noam Shalit, who is to meet Thursday Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament, has contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross to request that the organization confirm Hamas is treating Gilad in line with the Geneva Conventions, and that his health and dignity are being maintained.
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BRUSSELS (EJP)---Noam Shalit, father of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip since June 2006, will meet the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, in Strasbourg on Thursday morning.
On the same day, a resolution calling for Gilad Shalit’s immediate release will be debated in the plenary session of the EU parliament.
Gilad Shalit is also European citizen as he holds both Israeli and French citizenship.
The resolution recalls that the young man is being kept in Gaza incommunicado and deplores the continued disregard for his basic human rights according to the Geneva Conventions, and the prevention of information regarding his well-being for his family and the Israeli and French authorities.
Hamas has refused requests from the International Committee of the Red Cross to allow the ICRC to visit Shalit.
In exchange for his release, Hamas has demanded the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, including many convicted of deadly terrorist attacks against Israelis.
Noam Shalit recently urged the United Nations to take all possible measures to implement the findings of the Goldstone report on the Gaza war which calls for the immediate release of Gilad Shalit and for access to him by the International Red Cross.
In October 2009, Israel released 20 female Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a video proving Gilad Shalit was still alive. The video, the only contact from Shalit other than three letters written by him and an audio tape in June 2007, was released to the public on Israeli television.
Since then, the negotiations for the release of the captured soldier seem to be deadlocked.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said that he has been waiting for three months for a Hamas response to the deal.
The Shalit family has contacted the ICRC to request that the organization confirm Hamas is treating Gilad in line with the Geneva Conventions, and that his health and dignity are being maintained.