Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of Canadian citizens who call upon the House of Commons to urge the release of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier kidnapped by Hamas on sovereign Israeli territory on June 25, 2006.
They respectfully ask that Mr. Shalit's situation be raised whenever possible and also that the House of Commons work to help secure the release of other Israeli soldiers, such as Zachary Baumel, Tzvi Feldman, Yehudah Katz, Ron Arad and Guy Hever, all of whom have been victims of the terrorist kidnapping operations that occur around and even inside Israeli borders.
This government has stood strongly against Hezbollah, Hamas and other terrorist groups and in favour of our friends and democratic allies in Israel.