Last update - 00:00 29/08/2007
Official: Shalit deal reached in principle before Hamas coup
By Yossi Melman and Yigal Hai, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service
The government official in charge of talks for the release of kidnapped Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit told Haaretz on Tuesday that there had been no final agreement with Hamas to free Shalit, although a deal in principle had been reached before Hamas' takeover of Gaza.
Dekel, whom Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made responsible for negotiating for the release of IDF soldiers held by Hamas and Hezbollah, said he wanted to respond to what he called Hamas' attempts to conduct psychological warfare and emotional manipulation of the Israeli public through the interviews its officials have given to the Israeli media.
"Three-and-a-half months ago, the agreement in principle was made, through Egyptian mediation, to release 450 Palestinian prisoners in two stages," Dekel told Haaretz Tuesday. At the first stage, 350 prisoners were to have been released, and Shalit was to have been transfered to Egyptian custody. Dekel said no agreement was made as to how long Shalit would remain in Egyptian custody, but at the second stage, to have been carried out no later than a week after the first stage, Israel agreed to release another 100 prisoners. However, even though the outline of an agreement existed, there were large gaps between the two sides.
The list of 450 prisoners Hamas submitted contained a number of major terrorists, who Israel says have "blood on their hands," including the perpetrators of the bombing of the Dolphinarium in Tel Aviv in 2001, the attack on the Park Hotel in Netanya on Passover eve in 2002 and the Sbarro Pizza Jerusalem bombing in 2001.
Israel agreed only to the release of 40 terrorists "with blood on their hands," mainly those who abetted terrorist attacks, or wounded Israelis. Dekel said this major gap led to Hamas transfering to Israel a list of 1,000 terrorists, from which they proposed Israel chose those it was willing to release. But then came the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip and talks were cut off. Israel, as well as Egypt, is still waiting for the list.
Sources close to the talks have said there has been some movement recently toward Shalit's release. Various messages and proposals are being transmitted through the Egyptians as to how to make up the list Hamas is to submit to Israel.
The Hamas military wing, however, denied Wednesday that either Israel or the Egyptian mediators have requested it draw up a new list, Israel Radio reported.
Dekel also noted that the Shalit family, along with the families of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, soldiers being held by Hezbollah, are being kept informed on the negotiations.
Also Tuesday, Noam Shalit, the father of Gilad Shalit, directly accused Olmert of failure to bring his son home. Speaking at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv at an event marking Gilad's 21st birthday - his second birthday in captivity - Shalit said, "After so many days of Gilad's captivity, and after so many attempts to get him back, we see a clear and utter failure of the system.
"The team dealing with the issue of Gilad's return, under the leadership of Prime Minister Olmert, has failed."
Last night's event, organized by the Shalit family, featured a long table set with a birthday cake and decorated with balloons. The organizers gave out stickers that said, "Gilad Shalit, we're waiting at home for you."
"It was important to mark the event in some very modest way, and to show the public that Gilad Shalit, my son, has still not come back after two birthdays, 14 months and 429 days," Shalit said.
"We receive very few phone calls from officials," he added. "We are marshaling all our forces and continuing to act. We do not despair and will not give up. If we wait at home for them to bring Gilad, unfortunately it won't happen. There are no negotiations at present for Gilad's release. There is a lot of talk around it, but no serious negotiations for his release. We see no immediate hope."
Shalit also had a message for his son: "I want to tell Gilad, 'Be strong, don't lose hope. Hope is all you have. We are not giving up in our efforts. We hope you'll celebrate your next birthday at home with your family and friends'."
Referring to the conduct of Hamas' leadership, Shalit said, "If I were a Palestinian living in Gaza today, I would tell my leaders and the Hamas leaders in their grand villas in Damascus, 'You have also failed, and after such a long period of promise to release prisoners, going back to last Ramadan, you have failed'."