Report: No progress on Shalit deal
Hamas delegation arriving in Cairo Saturday discusses prisoner exchange deal, but sources tell al-Sharq al-Awsat there has been no real progress. Sunday Islamic Jihad-affiliated website said deal about to be finalized
Hamas sources told London based al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper there has been no real progress in talks for a prisoner exchange deal, but negotiations continue.
According to the report, published Monday, sources said they believe the Hamas delegation's visit to Cairo is linked to negotiations for a deal for the release of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
After the talks in Cairo, the delegation is slated to head to Damascus, in order to coordinate their position with Hamas heads in Syria.
"Ultimately, it will be the military wing, and not the political wing that will make a decision in the matter," a source told the paper.
According to the sources, the Hamas delegation left for Egypt on Saturday, under heavy security. The visit came a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a meeting with heads of the Israeli security establishment, the report said.
Hamas official Yahya Mousa was asked by the paper about the purpose of the delegation's visit to Cairo, and said it was not related to the internal Palestinian talks and that the delegation plans to discuss all issues of common interest, including a truce, the opening of border crossings and a prisoner exchange deal.
On Sunday, a Palestinian website affiliated with the Islamic Jihad reported Israel and Hamas were holding intensive Egyptian-mediated talks behind the scenes in an attempt to finalize a prisoner exchange deal.
The report quoted the website's "commentator on Israeli affairs" as saying that an agreement securing the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit is about to be finalized and may even be executed before Eid al-Fitr – the holiday marking the end of the Islamic month of Ramadan – in about a month and a half.
The report was based on unclear information and has not been confirmed by any official sources – neither Israeli nor Palestinian.
The Palestinian commentator also claims that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Friday with Defense Minister Ehud Barak and with heads of the defense establishment in order to discuss the Shalit issue and a possible prisoner swap deal with Hamas.
According to the report, "A strategic decision was made during the meeting to end the Shalit issue and agree on most of the names which appear on the prisoner exchange list (the list submitted by Hamas)."
