Report: Shalit’s deal “boiled to specifics”
Regional and "Israeli" media are abuzz with a flurry of reports on a possibly pending prisoner exchange that could free up to 1,000 Palestinian detainees after years of imprisonment under dire conditions in "Israeli" prisons. The deal would also release "Israeli" soldier Gilad Shalit after more than three years of captivity.
Negotiations between Hamas and "Israel", carried out indirectly through Egyptian officials and a German mediator, gained thrust after a one-minute "proof-of-life" video of Shalit that was released in October, and according to media reports is now hinging on specifics.
At the heart of "Israel's" conditions regarding the deal is an obligation that between 100 and 130 of the Palestinian prisoners who are to be released in exchange will be expelled to the Gaza Strip or abroad and banned from returning to the West Bank.
Commenting on this issue, Osama Hamdan ,a Beirut-based leader in Hamas said Tuesday night that "the movement cannot agree to a deal that includes the principle of exile", adding that "Hamas, or any other Palestinian faction, cannot agree to the expulsion of Palestinians .We insist that all the prisoners are released to their homes and families".
On his part, Sufian Abu Zaida, a senior Fatah figure and the minister in charge of Palestinian prisoner affairs, on Tuesday called on "Israel" to carry out the prisoner exchange, stressing that the releasing of the prisoners has broad support among Palestinians and is of equal importance to all the factions.
"Israeli" newspaper Ynet reported that the head mediator, Ernst Uhrlau, has asked "Israel" to reconsider its reservations in order to push the deal.
The newspaper also quoted Arab sources familiar with the negotiations ,saying that "Israel's" demand to exile dozens of prisoners indefinitely and its refusal to release several leaders - namely Marwan Barghouti and Ahmed Sadat - as well as its refusal to free jailed "Israeli" Arabs imprisoned, are "too much" for Hamas to accept.
Mean while, a row between Netanyahu's political adviser Uzi Arad, "Israeli" Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin added a spike in the wheels of negotiations. Arad launched a rancorous attack on Ashkenazi, who supports the deal, and on Diskin, whose stance has been kept under wraps by the censor.
"Israel" estimates at least 10 days before Shalit deal will be finalized amid mounting public pressure , citing a Poll which shows that "Israelis" are ready to pay ‘any price' for Shalit. While the omission of the brutal "Israeli" blockade from the prisoners deal has hampered the optimism of Gazans, who had hoped their economic plight would lessen with Shalit's release.
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