Photo of Jimmy Carter and Noam Shalit in Jerusalem on Friday 12 June 2009

Today, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter met Noam Shalit, the father of IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit who was seized in a cross-border raid in late June 2006, and who is still presumably being held somewhere in Gaza. Carter took a letter from Shalit’s parents to their son, and hopes to transfer it during a visit to Gaza next week.

Jimmy Carter and Noam Shalit meet in the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem - Carter takes letter for Corporal Gilad Shalit held somewhere in Gaza

Israel has said that it will not re-open the border crossings into Gaza until Gilad Shalit is returned home safely, while Hamas has been involved in on-and-off-again negotiations which would involve the release of large numbers — over one thousand — of the 11,000 Palestinians currently being detained by Israel.  Noam Shalit just wants his son back, and has urged the Israeli government to do whatever is necessary.