Gilad Shalit: 1,013 days in captivity
צילום: נועם רותם
Hamas says Shalit talks 'in a coma'
Islamist group member in charge of kidnapped soldier's case says negotiations for prisoner exchange deal will remain deadlocked until they are resumed by Netanyahu's government. 'The enemy has no choice,' he states
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.
"It will take time till we reach indirect talks with the new Israeli government," he said. "I can't say that the exchange deal died when radical (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu took office. The enemy has no choice, after all the attempts to release Shalit have failed. The Hamas movement will not change it demands and will not show any more flexibility."
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.
