Cpl. Gilad Schalit

      The first alleged witness to have seen captured soldier Cpl. Gilad Schalit since his kidnapping from an IDF post on the Gaza border in June 2006 was quoted last week by a Web site affiliated with the Islamic Jihad. A Palestinian resident living close enough to the Kerem Shalom Crossing where the soldier was captured by Hamas terrorists claimed to have witnessed the cross-border raid on Palestine al-Yom. The "witness" recalled the sounds of gunfire and explosions set off by devices thrown towards the troops. The report says the so-called witness saw three armed Palestinians carrying the wounded soldier while passing near his house. At first he thought that the wounded man was a Palestinian before members of the attacking cell made it apparent to him that the victim was Israeli and that they were in a hurry to flee the scene in a vehicle waiting for them. According to the alleged witness, Schalit was close to fainting during his capture and was wounded. The soldier, he claimed, had burn marks, bruises and blood on both his face and arms. (11,06)