Mashaal. Israeli leaders responsible for abductions'
Photo: AP
Shalit. 'Rise above interests'
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Mashaal to Noam Shalit: Complain to your leaders
Hamas politburo chief responds to appeal by kidnapped soldier's father urging him to accept German mediator's offer, says 'Zionist leaders will be responsible for any future abduction'
Hamas politburo
chief Khaled Mashaal responded Tuesday to a letter sent to him by Noam Shalit, father of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit,
five days ago, asking him to accept the German mediator's latest offer and release 1,000 prisoners in exchange for his son. Hamas rejected the proposal last December.
"Leaders of the Zionist entity will be responsible for any future capture of their soldiers," Mashaal said during a speech in Damascus.
"I say to Noam Shalit and the fathers of new prisoners, Inshallah (God willing): Complain only to your leaders, for they are the ones who are responsible for the capture of additional soldiers since they foiled the last exchange deal."
Shalit sent the letter ahead of Prisoner's Day which was marked in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip last Saturday. He stressed that the finalization of the deal would ease the suffering of Gaza residents who have been living under a blockade since Shalit's abduction.
At the end of the letter Shalit called on Mashaal "To rise above Hamas' political interests, and for the sake of the Palestinian prisoners and the welfare of the Palestinian nation, to demonstrate leadership, to convene the Hamas leaders, and to approve the generous German offer immediately."
