Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped by Gaza militants in 2006, is "living in paradise," the British newspaper Sunday Times quoted a leader of the Gaza Strip Doghmush clan as saying. In an interview with the Sunday Times reporter Christine Toomey, who embarked on a journey in search of the captive soldier in the Gaza Strip, clan elder Abu Khatab Doghmush said that the Army of Islam, the militant group affiliated with the clan, is not currently holding Shalit, despite the fact that the group is believed to have taken part in the abduction.
"The only faction that controls his life now is the Qassam Brigades," Abu Khatab told Toomey, referring to the Hamas-affiliated militant group. "But I can tell you that Shalit is living in a paradise. Our religion of Islam demands that we look after prisoners even more than we do our own people," the newspaper quoted him as saying.
Abu Khatab added specific details regarding Shalit's treatment, saying "He's not being kept in a closed room all the time - this would not be healthy. He can go out and take fresh air," rejecting speculations that the Israeli soldier is being held underground, booby trapped with explosives.
"Every year a party is held to celebrate his birthday. Yes, there is a cake and candles, music, everything," Abu Khatab added.
Toomey also spoke with senior Hamas official and former foreign minister Mahmoud Zahar, who is quoted as saying that he doesn't know anything about how Shalit is being treated by his captors, but his conditions are certain to be better than those of the Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
"Nobody from the political or military wing of Hamas knows where Shalit is," Zahar is quoted as saying. "Only the small group who kidnapped him know. They are very secretive."
The reported interviewed the spokesman of the Palestinian group the Popular Resistance Committees, which took part in the planning of the abduction. The spokesman, Abu Mujahed, described how the prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas should transpire, saying "after the Israelis free the first 100 Palestinian prisoners, Shalit would be moved to Egypt. Once he?s in Egypt, the Israelis would have to free 1,000 more of our brothers and sisters before he is released. We were very close to agreeing a deal a year ago, then the Israelis stopped negotiations. We were amazed that they were prepared to go back to zero. It is the Israelis who are putting obstacles in the way of an agreement."
"If we do not see some results soon, we will be forced to close the file," he added.