Bargaining chip and Israeli icon: who is Gilad Shalit?

Hopes are growing that Gilad Shalit, the Israeli Defence Force soldier kidnapped more than three years ago by Hamas militants, may finally be released in the coming days. But who is Shalit, and why is his freedom so important to the Israelis?

Shalit's ordeal began in the early hours of June 25 2006, while he was manning an army post on the Israeli side of the border with the southern Gaza Strip. A group of Palestinian militants, who had crept through a tunnel onto Israeli territory, opened fire. Two members of each side were killed in the ambush, and Shalit, then only 19, reportedly broke his hand when a rocket propelled grenade struck his tank.

Since then, despite a global campaign for his release, Shalit has been kept in captivity in Gaza. There has only been occasional evidence that he is still alive: three handwritten letters; an audio tape in 2007, and, this October, a videotape which showed the 23-year-old looking skinny but healthy. During the recording, he addressed Netanyahu, and spoke fondly of childhood memories. He was filmed holding a copy of a recent newspaper to verify the date.

Israel had to free 20 female Palestinian prisoners just to secure this two-minute long tape. So the price of his release is likely to be much higher; Hamas has previously asked for every Palestinian woman and child held captive by the Israelis to be freed, along with a list of 1,000 male prisoners.

The last Israeli soldier to be taken captive, Sergeant Nachshon Mordechai Wachsman in 1994, was killed in a botched rescue attempt less than a week later. This may explain why the Israeli government, which sends the teenage sons and daughters of its citizens to fight as conscripts against the Palestinians, has been more cautious in the case of Shalit.

Shalit's imprisonment has given rise to an emotional debate as to how far Israeli society should compromise. The vast majority favour giving in to Hamas's demands to secure his release, but others fear this would encourage more raids on Israeli soil, and that, if they were released, many of the Palestinian prisoners would simply take up arms against Israel again. And there is also a philosophical rift behind these practical and emotive concerns - the rift between those who feel that an individual should be sacrificed for the collective good, and those who don't.

The dilemma has only been intensified by international attention: