An undercover Israeli force seized a Palestinian resident of the Gaza Strip in 2007 on suspicion of indirect involvement in the kidnapping of soldier Gilad Shalit. But the gag order on the arrest of Mahawash al-Qadi was lifted only Tuesday. Immediately after al-Qadi was nabbed on September 7, 2007, Hamas moved Shalit to a different location. It also launched a massive effort to find the collaborators who it believed had helped Israel catch al-Qadi. Some of these alleged collaborators apparently fled Gaza. Israel initially indicted al-Qadi on charges of abetting Shalit's kidnapping. But following a plea bargain, the state amended the indictment to say that al-Qadi was not directly involved in the abduction and did not know where Shalit was being held. The new indictment, to which al-Qadi pleaded guilty, said that in September 2005, Hamas' military wing ordered him to locate and purchase a plot of land suitable for digging a tunnel under the border into Israel. It was via this tunnel that Shalit's kidnappers entered Israel.
