Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar on Monday night criticized an animated video released by the group’s military wing which depicted Gilad Schalit returning to Israel in a coffin, saying Hamas “would never kill a captured Israeli soldier.”
The clip “does not reflect the official position of Hamas,” Zahar said from the Gaza Strip.
The three-minute video shows Noam Schalit, the captured soldier’s father, wandering the streets with a photo of his son in his hand. Gilad’s voice, as heard in two tapes previously released by Hamas, can be heard in the background. As Noam Schalit is walking, he passes photographs of former prime minister Ehud Olmert and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, symbolizing the passage of time.
When Noam Schalit is shown as elderly and walking with a cane, the following text appears on the screen: “Finally, the Israeli government’s efforts succeed. After exchanging prisoners, Noam Schalit finally meets his son Gilad.”
The elderly Noam Schalit is shown sitting at the Erez border crossing and waiting as a coffin with an Israeli flag draped over it is taken out of a military car. "No!" he screams, and wakes up in the protest tent in Jerusalem; it was all a dream.
The video ends with the text “there is still hope,” and the Izzadin A-Qassam Brigades symbol.
Noam Schalit has called the video “regrettable” psychological warfare.