On October 18, the Palestinian radical group Hamas released and handed over to Israel 25-year-old Israeli army corporal Gilad Shalit, who had been held captive for more than 5 years. Yesterday's schoolboy Early in the morning, June 25, 2006, Palestinian militants attacked an Israeli checkpoint on the border of the Gaza Strip, knocked out a tank, and shot sleeping soldiers. Privates Hanan Barak and Pavel Slutsker died. Corporal Gilad Shalit, 19, was slightly wounded and taken prisoner.