TEL AVIV (EJP)---Gilad Shalit handed thank you letters to the ambassadors of France and Germany in Israel for French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for their efforts to secure his release from his Hamas captors three months ago.

Shalit and his father, Noam Shalit, met in Tel Aviv with France’s ambassador Christophe Bigot and German ambassador Andreas Michaelis.

"I want to thank you with all my heart for the unlimited support you have given me and your efforts to bring about my release," the 25-year-old young man wrote in a letter addressed to Sarkozy and the French people and handed to Ambassador Bigot.  

Shalit, who has dual French-Israeli citizenship, spent more than five years in captivity after he was captured in June 2006 in a cross-border attack by Palestinian groups. He was released in October in a prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas.

Gilad Shalit said he felt grateful and proud when he learned from his parents that President Sarkozy had referred to him as "the son of France."

The French president has reportedly invited the young man for a  visit to Paris.