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JERUSALEM: The Foreign Affairs Minister, Kevin Rudd, brought his motorcade to a halt outside the residence of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, but he was not there to see the official occupant. Mr Rudd instead made a visit on Tuesday to Noam and Aviva Shalit, the parents of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was captured by Hamas 1634 days ago. ''I want you to know that Gilad Shalit has not been forgotten in Australia,'' Mr Rudd said. ''I wanted to come here personally and bring a small message of hope and solidarity from the people of Australia.'' In June, the Shalits led a march that attracted tens of thousands supporters from their home in northern Israel to Mr Netanyahu's official residence. Trying to put pressure on the Israeli government to agree to a deal to free up to 1000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for their son, the Shalits vowed to camp on the street outside until Gilad is released. Mr Shalit told Mr Rudd to remind people that Gilad was being denied his basic human rights by Hamas. ''It offends me deeply that Gilad has not even been allowed visits by the Red Cross,'' Mr Rudd said. ''We have condemned Hamas over this and we will continue to do so.'' Mr Shalit told the Herald that every message of support from around the world helped. ''We always have hope,'' he said. ''But every message of support we received lifts us and helps us to keep on going. We are very thankful to Kevin Rudd for bringing us this message.'' At a gala dinner on Monday at the King David Hotel to mark the Australia Israel Leadership Forum, Mr Rudd emphasised Australia's support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ''Sometimes it seems we have been wandering in the desert these last 40 years,'' he said. ''We are all familiar with the great questions which need to be resolved for the future, including the delineation of borders, the future of refugees, the status of Jerusalem, security arrangements that would allow both states to live in peace and real security.'' Mr Rudd said that peace was a matter for the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government to determine: ''We in Australia, as both a friend of Israel and the Palestinian people, believe that time is beginning to run out. What we need to see is not another peace process, what need to see is a peace outcome.''

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