'Israeli intelligence failed.' Shalit
צילום: AP
Hamas: We won’t transfer any more signs of life from Shalit
(Video) Leading Islamic group figure says no more letters, videos from kidnapped IDF soldier as long as Israel insists on prerequisites for prisoner exchange deal. 'This policy will backfire, encourage kidnapping of more soldiers,' Osama al-Muzaini says
VIDEO - A senior Hamas figure said Thursday that the Islamist group refuses to pass on any additional signs of life, including tapes and letters, from captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit as long as Israel remains adamant in its prerequisites for a prisoner exchange deal.
Osama al-Muzaini accused Israel of obstructing a possible prisoner swap under Egyptian mediation, saying "we've forced the enemy to accept our demands, but if the Israelis insist on not accepting them, we can hold on to Shalit for 20 years and never grow weary".
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He added that "Israel's stubbornness on this issue will backfire and encourage the resistance groups to kidnap more soldiers."
The Hamas figure claimed that Israeli intelligence failed in its attempt to detect Shalit's location in Gaza.
The Egyptian weekly al-Ahram al-Arabi quoted diplomatic sources as saying last week that Hamas succumbed to Cairo's demands and handed over a new videotape of kidnapped Shalit along with a handwritten letter from him.
Shalit was captured during a cross-border raid on an IDF base near Gaza on June 25, 2006.
