Noam Shalit: Willing to be detained by Hamas
Gilad Shalit's father says willing to serve as guarantor for prisoner release deal, travel to Gaza and stay with Hamas' security forces 'until all their demands are answered.' PRC spokesman tells father, 'In appreciation of human emotions, we say to Noam Shalit that your son is alive and healthy'
"I, myself, am prepared to be guarantor for this and, if needed, I am prepared to travel to the Gaza Strip, and to stay with Hamas' security forces until all of their demands are answered," said Noam Shalit. The full conversation was broadcast on the radio station All For Peace.
Shalit said, "Israel is interested in finishing this deal and releasing a lot of prisoners even after Gilad is released, but I am saying that as long as there is no list (of prisoners – R.N.), we can't move forward."
Abu Mujahad was asked about Gilad's condition, and said, "The soldier is very healthy and is getting everything he asks for. We, God forbid, didn't abuse him as is prescribed by the honorable laws of Islam. In appreciation of human emotions, we say to Noam Shalit that your son is alive and healthy, and we didn't abuse him as the Israeli government does to our prisoners."
In reference to claims that the Palestinian organizations have yet to put together a prisoner list for the prisoner swap, Abu Mujahad said: "It could be that the Egyptians didn't pass on the list, but we gave them all of our demands."
'We may hold Shalit for years'
"A number of our prisoners are looking to be released in the first round of 1,000 Palestinian and Arab prisoners. In the second phase, we will hand over the soldier to the Egyptians, and in exchange, another wave of releases with specific names will take place, and the Egyptians will hand over the soldier to Israel," he added.
According to him, the deal offered by the Egyptians satisfies the kidnappers' demands, especially in regards to the number of prisoners to be released.
"If the government of Israel would have agreed to the Egyptian initiative, the kidnapped soldier would have been home a long time ago, and this issue would be over. Therefore, we blame the Israeli government for the failure of the deal. We are asking the Egyptians to continue the initiative to close the deal," he said.
Abu Mujahad said that the kidnappers appointed a committee to discuss the issue of the kidnapped soldier.
"The Egyptians invested resources around the clock, and we hoped these efforts would translate into the release of prisoners, but the delay came from the Olmert government who secretly said that it agrees to the release of Palestinians, but in public declared that the demands of the resistance are unacceptable. This means that they are always looking for a way to make the deal fall through," said Abu Mujahad.
What is the point of disagreement with the Israeli leadership?
"We have no disagreement. The disagreement is from the enemy. The ball is in their court, and they don't want to release prisoners and don't want to grant a victory to the resistance. Therefore, we are going to hold on to the prisoner soldier. Until now, we have held him six months. Perhaps we will hold him for years, but, ultimately, we won't release him until our demands are met," he explained.
Noam Shalit said, "According to what I checked yesterday, and according to what I know, the list didn't get to Israel and it is hard to believe they are lying to me."
