Gilad Shalit. Fourth birthday in captivity
Photo: Noam Rotem
Military sources: Shalit deal still months away
Senior Israeli officials tell al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper Hamas is behind reports that prisoner exchange deal is about to be finalized, in bid to cause Israeli public to point finger at Netanyahu government if talks fail
Senior military officials have warned that the reports
that a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas
will be executed soon are false, clarifying that a deal securing kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit's release is still "months away," London-based Arabic-language al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper reported Sunday morning.
According to the sources, the recent developments in the region – including two visits to Egypt
by the leader of Hamas' military wing, his trip to Damascus and his announcement that Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashall would visit Cairo – are "positive and show that progress has been made in the negotiations, but it is only slight progress. We are still far from the stage of tying all loose ends into a deal."
The sources warned against "being drawn by the reports announcing an imminent swap deal between Israel and Hamas," adding that if all goes well, "several months" would be needed to implement the deal.
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The officials added that Hamas was responsible for the optimistic statements on a completion of the deal, in a bid to cause the Israeli public to point a finger at its government if the talks failed.
According to one of the sources, Hamas leaders "plan to spread illusions among the Israeli public about an imminent deal, because if the deal is not completed, Israel will be accused of thwarting it at the last moment, like what happened during former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's tenure."
The sources added that the German mediators had said many more months of negotiations were needed in order for all sides to reach a satisfactory solution.
German weekly Der Spiegel reported Saturday that Germany has given Hamas until the beginning of September to approve a reported deal on a prisoner swap.
According to the report, the deal mediated by Germany's foreign intelligence service will see Israel release 450 Palestinian prisoners in the first phase of the deal. The weekly reported that the Israeli government had requested the German mediation, which began in mid July.
Gilad Shalit was kidnapped into the Gaza Strip 1,161 days ago.
