I've said it before, and I'll say it again. People make a massive mistake in dealing with the Middle East in assuming that all parties are rational actors. Some may, perhaps, be rational actors within their own warped world view, but that does not make them rational according to the rules of either diplomacy or war. How would the FBI respond if a group of hostage takers said the following to them in America?

The Islamic Hamas movement on Thursday said it cannot confirm or deny if the captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is still alive... Al-Muzini, however, said Israel has to go ahead with talks to exchange Shalit for a number of Arab prisoners "whether the soldier was dead or alive... The Zionist enemy has to pursue negotiations without any signal confirming or denying this argument."

Well, I'd say the FBI would continue negotiations only so they could lure the hostage-takers into revealing their location, and then they would move in with all necessary force, and by the end of it all the hostage-takers would either be dead or in captivity. But if the Israelis behave in the same way as the FBI, that would be a "war crime" and a "human rights violation."