“The crazy war on the Gaza Strip wiped out everything so we don’t know
if Shalit is still alive or if he has died,” Osama al-Muzini, a Hamas
official authorized to speak on this issue, told Xinhua, referring to a
22-day Israeli offensive against the Hamas-controlled territory in January.
Al-Muzini, however, said Israel has to go ahead with talks to exchange
Shalit for a number of Arab prisoners “whether the soldier was dead or
alive.”

Xinhau News Agency 25 June 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/25/content_11600605.htm

Is Israel being sucked into a repeat of the dead Israeli soldiers for live
terrorist swap the Olmert administration made with Hezbollah?

One troubling common thread?: Until the moment that the caskets were
broadcast live, the Israeli media related to the IDF soldier being held by
Hezbollah as alive despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary – in
large part in order to maintain pressure on the Olmert administration to go
through with a trade. When last week Hamas officials warned that Shalit may
be dead, the Israeli media buried the story – with essentially all coverage
taking on faith that Shalit is still alive.

Is it somehow immoral to take the words of Hamas officials seriously when
they say Shalit may be dead?

Or is the opposite the case?

Is it immoral to press for the release of very much alive and dangerous
Palestinian terrorists in a trade without requiring that such a release be
only in return for a live Israeli?

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