A call for the immediate release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, held captive in Gaza since June 2006, will be the subject of a debate at the plenary session of the European Union parliament this week.
 

Noam Shalit, is scheduled to meet with Jerzy Buzek, the President of the European Parliament on Thursday, European media reports said Tuesday.
 
Shalit, who has dual Israeli and French citizenship, has been held incommunicado in the Gaza Strip, since his abduction. Until now his captors have refused representatives of the International Red Cross or any other foreign dignitary from meeting with the Israeli soldier.
 

The resolution up for discussion reiterates the fact that Shalit is being held in isolation and emphasizes the blatant violation of basic human rights according to the Geneval Convention that prevents access to the soldier in order to testify to his well being.
 

Noam Shalit recently urged the United Nations to take all possible measures to implement the findings of the Goldstone report on Israel’s military offensive in Gaza last year, which calls for Shalit’s immediate release and to permit a visit to the soldier by International Red Cross officials.

 

Currently Israel is negotiating through German mediation a prisoner swap with Hamas to release the soldier.

Last week Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he has been waiting for a response from Hamas to Israel’s latest proposal since December.

On Tuesday, Israel Vice President Silvan Shalom asked U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to seek updated information concerning Gilad Shalit during his visit to Gaza later this month.