Gilad Shait, captive 1,579 days
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Report: Mediator meets jailed Hamas man
Al-Hayat reports German mediator in Shalit deal visited Sheikh Hassan Yousef in Israeli prison
The London-based al-Hayat reported Thursday that the German mediator in the Shalit prisoner-swap deal met last month with a Hamas commander jailed in Israel, Sheikh Hassan Yousef.
A Hamas source told the paper the mediator met with Yousef because he knows jailed Hamas commanders are just as influential in the organization as its recognized leadership. "Everyone is unified regarding the deal," he said.
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The source also denied reports in the Arab media saying that the mediator visited Gaza a few days ago. He said the latter had been invited to the region by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in order to create an atmosphere of progress though, in fact, there was none.
"Netanyahu is taking advantage of the Shalit case while the peace negotiations go awry and we don't want to give him this opportunity," he said.
The source reiterated accusations against Netanyahu and former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, saying they are the ones who have prevented a deal so far.
"Every time there is progress the Israeli side backs out. At first they vetoed the release of 149 prisoners, then they went down to 50 and in the last round they insisted on refusing to release 15 prisoners, of those defined as having Jewish blood on their hands," he said.
He added that Israel was refusing to release heads of Hamas' military wing, among them Abdullah Barghouti, responsible for a number of terror attacks, and Abbas al-Sayed, who planned the Passover eve suicide bombing in Netanya's Park Hotel in March 2002.
In addition, the source said, Israel is opposing the release of Marwan Barghouti, Ahmed Saadat, and Ahlam Tamimi, all of whom Hamas has conditioned any deal upon.
Roee Nahmias contributed to this report
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