Priti 4 Witham

In the past few days the world has seen a number of significant activities in the Middle East. The first was the distressing video message from Alan Johnston wearing a bomb vest and the other was the audio tape released yesterday by Hamas of the captured Israeli soldier, Sergeant Gilad Shalit. Having met Sergeant Shalit’s parents last month, I could not help but feel a small sense of relief that they have now heard the voice of their son. But at the same time I felt pure despair for them as it is clear that Sergeant Shalit is in need of medical help and his voice was full of despair. From the talks held yesterday between Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, it is clear that these two sides will continue to isolate Hamas and that they have not quite worked out how to resolve the hostage situation without force. In light of this very desperate and depressing situation, the timing of Blair’s confirmation as Middle East Envoy could not come too soon enough. Without a doubt this is one of the toughest diplomatic challenges anyone could take and Blair knows it. Let’s hope that he can harness the force of his personality to move things forward and help to make a lasting difference in the Middle East.