IN the blink of an eye, the victim became the oppressor. At the end of last month, the young 19-year-old, doe-eyed corporal Gilad Shalit was snatched away from his disintegrating unit. A group of Palestinian youths crossed the border from Gaza, killed members of an Israeli Army patrol, kidnapped Shalit and hid him. The kidnappers said they were part of the military wing of Hamas, Izzaddin al-Qassam.

Today, two weeks later, we see the result: 120 d