Palestinian groups behind the kidnapping of Corporal Gilad Shalit on June 25 near Rafah in Gaza have demanded Israel release 12 senior Palestinian leaders in return for his release, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Hayat reported Tuesday.
The newspaper said the groups demanded that Fatah official Marwan Barghouti and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine leader
Ahmad Saadat and his deputy be freed from Israeli jails. Other prisoners on the list are Hamas top member and one of the men behind the prisoners' document, Abed al-Halak al-Natsha and other Fatah and Islamic Jihad leaders.
According to the report, Israel has already agreed to release prisoners "with blood on their hands," but refused to free some of the prisoners named on the factions' list.
Additionally, Israel has opposes the principle of a prisoner exchange, and insists that no prisoners are released until the soldiers are returned.
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