'No specific information.' Abbas
Photo: AP
Yossi Beilin (archive photo)
Photo: Eli Elgarat
Shalit deal expected within two weeks, Abbas says
Palestinian president meets with Yossi Beilin in Ramallah, says Egypt informed him prisoner exchange deal for release of kidnapped IDF soldier imminent
A prisoner exchange deal for the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is expected within two to three weeks’ time, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas told reporters Wednesday.
It should be noted that Abbas has made similar statements in the past, but he appears to have very little influence on the negotiations on this deal.
Abbas spoke following his meeting with Meretz chairman Yossi Beilin, which took place within the framework of a visit by the heads of the Geneva Initiative with their Palestinian counterparts in Ramallah.
“There is a deal between Israel and Hamas under Egyptian mediation; they (Egyptians) have informed me that it will apparently be sealed within two or three weeks, but I have no specific information,” Abbas said.
Asked whether he believed the political crisis in Israel will affect the talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Abbas said, “We are carefully following the crisis and hope it will come to an end, but it is an internal Israeli matter.”
The Palestinian president added that he hoped his efforts to halt the Qassam rocket fire on Israel would bear fruit.
“I condemned the rocket attacks and demanded that they stop, just as I condemned the Israeli army’s invasion of Palestinian cities in the West Bank,” he said.
The Palestinian president told Beilin that the PA may collapse within the next two months unless it receives immediate international aid.
“Those who think they can bring down the government without causing the collapse of the entire Palestinian Authority don’t know what they’re talking about,” Abbas said.
