Hamas must immediately and unconditionally release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said

Hamas must immediately and unconditionally release abducted Israeli occupation soldier Gilad Shalit, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said on Wednesday, following a New York meeting with Shalit's father, Noam Shalit.

In a statement following Rice's meeting with Shalit's father, the U.S. UN envoy said she "expressed to Mr. Shalit the solidarity of the United States with him and his family, and I reiterated our strongest condemnation of his son’s detention. " "As I have said repeatedly in the UN Security Council, Hamas must immediately and unconditionally release Gilad Shalit," Rice added.

Earlier in her statement, the U.S. official said she was "honored to meet with Noam Shalit today, 1,900 days after his son, Gilad, was taken captive," adding that during that "period, Hamas has held Gilad hostage and without access by the International Committee of the Red Cross, in violation of international humanitarian standards and basic decency."

Noam Shalit's meeting with the U.S. UN envoy came just over a week after Hamas reports said that a senior Hamas delegation headed by politburo chief Khaled Meshal, was to in Cairo, adding that the delegation was expected to hold talks over a deal to release Gilad Shalit.

Other Hamas sources said Meshal was going to Cairo to discuss the broader spectrum of issues between Egypt and the Islamic Palestinian organizations.