The talks aimed at securing kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit's
release will be resumed soon, London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Hayat reported Friday, quoting an Egyptian source.
The source added that talks
held in Cairo between Amos Gilad, head of the Defense Ministry's Security-Diplomatic Bureau, and Egyptian Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman dealt with a prisoner exchange deal.
| Accusations |
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| Mubarak: Israel canceled Shalit deal at last minute / Ynet |
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In exclusive Yedioth Ahronoth interview, Egyptian president blames Jewish state for failure of talks at end of Olmert's tenure as prime minister, which he says led Hamas to toughen its demands. He expresses his confidence, however, that matter will be resolved soon |
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"So far, the Israeli government has not raised any new offer which we can build on or move forwards with," said the Egyptian official, who was defined by the newspaper as a reliable source.
"We don’t want to lose all the efforts invested by the previous government and start from scratch. The agreement to resume the negotiations is positive, but we are waiting for a proposal from the Israelis about their new stand."
The same source added that the talks had never stopped, but that recently the Egyptians have been working on trying to understand the new Israeli government's stand. As for Hamas'
stand, the source said, the Palestinian organization still insists on the list of prisoners it demanded in the past.
There is also "nothing new" in terms of a truce between Israel
and Hamas, the official said. "There is an agreement in principle in regards to a mutual lull between Israel and Hamas that every Palestinian violation of the lull will be answered with a military escalation on the part of the Israelis.
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