Fearing Death, Shalit Went on Hunger Strike

By JTA December 4, 2011

Former captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit went on a hunger strike that put his life in danger shortly before his release.

The hunger strike is what led in part to Hamas agreeing to an exchange, out of fear that Shalit would die and Hamas would lose its main bargaining chip, Yediot Acharonot reported on Sunday. The daily Israeli newspaper was citing an intelligence report on Shalit.

The report said that shrapnel fired during the kidnapping entered Shalit’s body, barely missing vital organs and that the wounds eventually healed.

The report also said, according to Yediot, that Iran and Hamas gave misleading information to Israeli intelligence on Shalit’s whereabouts, hoping that an Israeli rescue force would enter a booby trapped house in northern Gaza.

Shalit was reportedly guarded by the same four Hamas members throughout his captivity.

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