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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bernardhenri-levy/three-questions-and-answe_b_624312.html
A Kidnap Victim Held for Ransom
(Huffington Post) Bernard-Henri Levy - Why so much emotion about the soldier Shalit, abducted in June 2006? First of all, there are international conventions governing the status of prisoners of war. Shalit has been sequestered for four years. The fact that the Red Cross, which regularly visits Palestinians in Israeli prisons, has never been granted access to him is a flagrant violation of the laws of war. But moreover and most of all: Shalit was not captured in the fury of a battle but during a raid in Israel, when Israel, having evacuated Gaza, was at peace with its neighbor. Shalit is not a prisoner of war but a hostage. His fate is comparable to that of, not a Palestinian prisoner, but a kidnap victim being held for ransom.