Senior Hamas
member Osama Al-Mazini, who is in charge of the Gilad Shalit affair on behalf of the Islamist group, said Friday that the negotiations aimed at securing the kidnapped soldier's release were "in a coma."
According to al-Mazini, the talks will remain deadlocked until they are resumed by the new Israeli government.
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The Shalit family had hoped that their son would return home by the time former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
left office.
"We, like the rest of the people of Israel, expect Gilad to come home and immediately so," the kidnapped soldier's father, Noam, told Ynet
on Wednesday. "Unfortunately, this whole thing has turned into a cattle trade, instead of remaining a top national priority. All we heard were statements about changing stances and toughening stands."
As for the possibility that the new government will bring about a change in the painful affair, Shalit said, "I expect this to be over soon and not take another three years. You can’t argue with facts – Olmert stretched (the negotiations) like gum and I guess he wasn’t the type to make hard decisions."
Gilad Shalit was kidnapped
into the Gaza Strip 1,013 days ago.
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