Report: Noam Shalit to meet with Hamas members
Al-Hayat newspaper reports kidnapped soldier's father held talks with source in Strip in bid to coordinate meeting with Hamas, Fatah members, who agreed in principle to meet with him in Gaza in coming days
Noam Shalit, the father of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, is expected to visit the Gaza Strip in the coming days in order to meet with Hamas and Fatah members, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper reported Monday.
Talking to Ynet, Shalit refused to confirm the reports, but once again accused both sides – Israel and the Palestinians – of "being stubborn on Gilad's account."
An Egyptian source told the newspaper that Shalit had held talks with an element in the Gaza Strip in a bid to coordinate a meeting, and that Fatah and Hamas officials agreed in principle to meet with him.
He added that the names of prisoners slated to be officially released have not been presented yet, and that the issue of the number of prisoners and the date of their release was still not agreed upon.
"Things have yet to reach a discussion on the names," he said.
The same source accused both Hamas and Israel of being responsible for the difficulties which are preventing the deal from being implements, and said that "it seems the Israelis are not very interested in Shalit's release.
"(They are interested) in keeping him as a bargaining chip and as a coverage for any act of aggression or escalation they are carrying out in the territories."
According to the source, "Both sides together are posing difficult conditions which lead to the failure of every deal."
'Suleiman's visit successful'
He mentioned as an example Hamas' demand to release Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Secretary-General Ahmed Saadat and former Fatah Secretary-General in the West Bank Marwan Barghouti, who are jailed in Israel.
Nonetheless, the Egyptian source who spoke to al-Hayat referred optimistically to the recent visit of Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman to Israel. According to him, the visit was positive in every aspect and during the visit "different issues were discussed, topped by a diplomatic move and removing the Palestinian people's suffering."
The source stressed that nothing has been agreed upon regarding Shalit, but added that "the parties discusses several issues and agreed about the importance of a diplomatic move," a move which he refused to reveal.
"It is possible to say that this visit was more than positive. It was one of the most successful visits Minister Suleiman held to Israel," he said.
Ahiya Raved contributed to the report
