June 25, 2005
Hamas terrorists infiltrate Israel from Gaza through a tunnel and ambush an IDF tank carrying four soldiers on patrol. With its engine cut off, the tank’s interior becomes suffocating. Two of the four soldiers, Staff Sgt. Pavel Slutsker and Lt. Chanan Barak, emerge and are immediately shot and killed. The terrorists throw hand grenades into the tank, forcing one of the two remaining soldiers, Gilad Shalit, to come out. He is captured and smuggled into Gaza.
The fourth Israeli soldier, unconscious and wounded, remains inside the tank until other Israel Defense Forces troops find him.
Born in Nahariya on August 28, 1986, Shalit began his mandatory military service less than a year earlier in July 2005.
Almost immediately after Shalit’s abduction, his captors release a statement offering information on his location in exchange for the release of all female and juvenile Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel. So begins a long series of prisoner exchange demands by Hamas, while the Israeli Government refuses to negotiate.
Numerous world leaders and other dignitaries unsuccessfully attempt diplomatic intervention. Hamas refuses even to let the International Red Cross visit Shalit.
In Israel, Shalit’s parents, Noam and Aviva, launch an emotional campaign for his release. Noam Shalit — whose twin brother went missing in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and later was found among the dead — communicates with Hamas and Syria’s president, writes letters to his son in Palestinian newspapers, and offers himself as a replacement hostage.
In 2009 the family sets up a protest tent in front of the prime minister’s house. Throngs of people visit the tent and create international media campaigns for Shalit’s release.
After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allows negotiations, Shalit is freed after more than five years of captivity October 18, 2011, in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. His return is met with euphoria for his homecoming and outrage at the release of Palestinian terrorists, many of whom had killed Israelis. One of the released Palestinians is Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
