Quntar informed by Israeli official of progress in prisoner swap
According to Palestinian newspaper, Ofer Dekel - in charge of securing the return of 3 kidnapped soldiers - met with Lebanese prisoner, informed him of advances in exchange deal for Goldwasser, Regev
There was no official confirmation of former Shin Bet Deputy Chief Ofer Dekel's meeting with the family of Danny Haran - who, along with his four-year-old daughter, was brutally murdered by Quntar in 1979 - or of the article at large.
The newspaper cited reports from Israeli newspapers that Dekel met twice in recent weeks with senior Hamas members in the Israeli jail of Hadarim. According to al-Ayam, sources in Hadarim prison said Dekel had also met with Quntar at that time and allegedly informed him of advances in a deal to trade the Lebanese prisoner for Regev and Goldwasser.
Dekel told Quntar that the main obstacle to completing the deal was Hizbullah's request that Palestinian prisoners also be released as part of an exchange. He told Hamas prisoners at Hadarim that progress was being made on a prisoner swap for Shalit, as well, stated the Palestinian paper.
Al-Ayam quoted the sources from the prison as saying that the recent transfer of four Jordanian prisoners back to Jordan indicated that a deal was near, both for Shalit in Gaza and for the two soldiers being held in Lebanon.
They claimed that the Israeli envoy had said some of the senior Hamas operatives in the room with him would be among the prisoners released, adding that some would be transferred abroad for "a short while" before returning to the West Bank.
However, other Arab newspapers have reported matters differently. The al-Hayat newspaper stated that a report "that prisoners have begun negotiating with Israel regarding Shalit is completely untrue.
"The Hamas leadership in Damascus is the only source authorized to make decisions on this issue…and Egypt is the only authorized mediator between the sides. Everything else is blabber for the media," it quoted a source as saying.
