JERUSALEM: Thousands of people were expected to rally in Jerusalem on Thursday after a 12-day march of solidarity with Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held for more than four years by the Hamas rulers of Gaza.
Following the evening rally, Noam and Aviva Shalit, parents of the 23-year-old soldier, will set up camp outside the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They have vowed to stay there until their abducted son is freed.
The march began at their home in northern Israel on June 27 and has drawn tens of thousands of supporters.
The aim is to ramp up pressure on Netanyahu’s government to reach a prisoner swap deal with Hamas.
The Islamist movement, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, wants hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit, including scores of top insurgents responsible for deadly attacks.
Prisoner swap talks broke down in December and have not resumed, angering the family which has urged the Israeli government to pay up and secure Shalit’s release.
