Gilad Shalit: 1,001 days in captivity
Photo: Noam Rotem
Report: Shalit talks to resume within days
London-based al-Hayat newspaper quotes Palestinian sources as saying indirect negotiations between Israel, Hamas to be reignited in Cairo in coming days, subject to US stance on issues on the agenda
The indirect negotiations between Israel
and Hamas
on a prisoner exchange deal will be resumed in Cairo in the coming days, subject to the United State's stance on a deal, a truce agreement and the intra-Palestinian dialogue, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper reported Sunday, quoting Palestinian sources.
Palestinian sources in Gaza, defined by the newspaper are reliable, estimated that should the US stance be positive in regards to the intra-Palestinian dialogue, and particularly the establishment of a national unity government in accordance to the understandings reached by the Palestinian factions, an agreement on the prisoner exchange issue would be possible.
Washington's stand on the matter will be presented by Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who visited the American capital in recent days.
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The source, who according to the paper were involved in the indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, also provided details on Israel's final offer to the Palestinian organization.
According to the sources, the Jewish state refused to release five prisoners out of the 450 which Hamas is demanding for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.
The five prisoners which led to a deadlock in the talks, the sources said, were Ahmad Saadat, the secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who was sentenced to 30 years in jail for his involvement in the murder of Minister Rehavam Ze'evi; Ibrahim Hamed, head of Hamas' military wing in the West Bank; Abdullah Barghouti, one of the military wing's leaders in the West Bank; Hassan Salame, one of the military wing's leaders in Gaza; and Fatah activist Amna Muna, who was convicted of murdering Israeli teenager Ophir Rachum.
The sources added that Israel demanded that 120 of the prisoners listed would be deported, 90 of them abroad and 30 to the Gaza Strip.
According to the report, Hamas and the Popular Resistance Committees turned down the offer and insisted that all the prisoners on the release would be released, with a certain willingness to agree to a deportation, as long as only a small number of prisoners would be expelled – in order to protect them.
Gilad Shalit was kidnapped into the Gaza Strip 1,001 days ago
