On the eve of his 1-year anniversary as a captive in Gaza, Reuters reports that kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit is being held in an explosives-laden basement near the town of Rafah, in southern Gaza.

The television report said Shalit was being cared for by two captors with whom he had formed a "cordial" relationship and he was being treated fairly.

Shalit's living quarters were described as a two-room underground store with enough supplies to last two weeks, accessible down a ladder through a 15-meter deep shaft which the report said was lined with explosives.

It added that the captors receive supplies and newspaper cuttings every two weeks and that they had been ordered to take good care of their prisoner.

Last year, Shalit's captors refused to accept a pair of eye glasses sent by his parents because they feared they were embedded with miniature electronic devices.

Start to notice a pattern here? (See previous story on Alan Johnston's bomb-belt).

Meanwhile, Gilad's father has told Israeli Prime Minister Olmert: Free my son or quit.

Jerusalem - The father of an Israeli soldier snatched one year ago in a cross-border raid launched from the Gazs Strip called Sunday on the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign if he was unable to secure the release of his son. "It's the test of a leader", Noam Shalit said at a rally in Jerusalem marking one year since the abduction. "If you do not know what to do, give your portfolio to someone who can bring about results immediately."

And an Israeli MK has tied Gilad's release to any humanitarian aid given to Gaza :

"I assume the government will reach some kind of decision in the coming days regarding the opening of the crossings into Gaza," MK Levy told Arutz-7's Hebrew newsmagazine on Sunday morning. "This, in order to avoid a humanitarian crisis in Gaza where people die of disease and hunger."

"But we have some humanitarian demands of our own," Levy said. "I propose that the Government of Israel make its continued humanitarian aid contingent upon the release of Gilad Shalit. We must say: If you ignore the humanitarian need of his family, and of all Israel, and keep him with you, then we too will keep our aid from reaching Gaza."

MK Levy, whose daughter was killed by a car bomb in Jerusalem in 2003, isn't buying Hamas's claim that they have n othing to do with the Shalit kidnapping:

Asked about the claim that the kidnappers are not controlled by the Hamas government, Rabbi Levy said, "To say that they're just a bunch of wild guys who don't listen to orders - I don't accept that. The whole Hamas regime is the same way... The world understands this, and will therefore accept our demand. This is a perfect opportunity to take advantage of the terrorists' plight. There's no reason for us to be so good-hearted. If they don't want to run out of flour in a week or two, then let them give us back Gilad."

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