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Gilad Shalit. Still in captivity
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Hamas: No progress expected on Shalit during Netanyahu's term

Gaza leaders closely watching change of government in Israel, estimate that there will be no development on Shalit affair during Netanyahu's years in office

After a deal between Israel and Hamas for the release of Gilad Shalit failed to materialize during Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's last weeks in office, Hamas is now worried that negotiations during Benjamin Netanyahu's term are expected to be much more difficult.

 

Hamas leaders are closely monitoring the statements made by designated ministers in the new Likud-led government and realize that they may not be able to receive an offer similar to the one given by Olmert, and rejected by the group.

 

"We understand that Netanyahu won't be able to offer what Olmert has," one senior Hamas official told Ynet.

 

According to the official, "We are operating under the assumption that the Shalit issue is going to be put on hold. We estimate that there will be no development in the Shalit affair during Netanyahu's years in office."

 

Ynet reported on Monday that Hamas is refusing to amend its demands and plans to present to Netanyahu a prisoner list identical to the one presented to Olmert.

 

"What we rejected from Olmert we won't be willing to accept from Netanyahu," added the official, saying Hamas demands the release of "the entire list, without names being removed or deportations, except for single names we can agree on, if at all."

 

He stressed that Hamas was unfazed by the new government. "Netanyahu and Lieberman will want to appear tough, but we have already proved that we cannot be pressured."

 

The prisoner issue was too important for the Palestinians to settle on, he added, saying: "Prisoners who were sentenced to hundreds of years in prisons would not walk free without this deal, and so the terms regarding them will not change."

 

Sources involved in the negotiations reported that the list of 325 prisoners Israel has agreed to release include six east Jerusalemites, and that this was the first time ever Israel was willing to free its own citizens.

 


פרסום ראשון: 03.31.09, 13:08
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