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Last update - 22:23 06/10/2008
Thousands rally in Rabin Square to ask Shalit for forgiveness
By News Agencies
Tags: Khaled Meshal, Gilad Shalit 

The family of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit will hold a rally in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square on Monday evening, to ask for his forgiveness ahead of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.

Thousands of supporters gathered at the event, which began at 8 P.M..

Shalit was captured by Gaza militants in a cross-border raid in June, 2006.
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Shalit's father, Noam, addressed the crowd, along with Shlomo Goldwasser, whose son Eldad was abducted and killed by Hezbollah in July 2006, and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Mezger.

A host of artists were also perform songs dedicated to Shalit.

Rallies calling for Shalit's release are held at Rabin Square on a near weekly basis ,to ensure that the issue remains on the public agenda.

Meanwhile, the exiled leader of Hamas earlier Monday said talks with Israel over Shalit's release are at a standstill, blaming "a lack of reliability" on the part of Israeli negotiators.

Le Figaro newspaper quoted Hams politboro chief Khaled Meshal as saying that Israeli negotiators continue to rehash issues already agreed. The daily said he gave the interview from a residence in Damascus, Syria.

Late last month, Ofer Dekel, the Israeli official charged with negotiating the release of Shalit, visited Cairo to be briefed by Egyptian officials on their proposal for a prisoner exchange with Hamas.

Just before, a ministerial committee headed by Vice Premier Haim Ramon agreed to draw up a new list of 450 Palestinian prisoners that Israel would be willing to release in the exchange.

The new list included 250 of the approximately 350 prisoners whose inclusion in the deal Hamas has demanded.

Nevertheless, Hamas rejected the list. The group had demanded the staged release of 1,400 prisoners, including those who have carried out violent attacks against Israelis.

It said new recommendations made by the ministerial panel failed to fulfill Hamas demands and therefore the Egyptian-brokered negotiations over Shalit cannot advance.

"No breakthrough can be achieved before the Zionist enemy agrees to all the conditions and all the names on the list we have handed over," said senior Hamas official Osama Al-Muzaini.


Ostensibly, differences between Hamas and Israel on this issue have never been smaller. However, Egypt's insistence on a broader package deal, whose details were published in the daily Maariv Thursday, may yet thwart the exchange.

Egypt wants to combine Shalit's release, for which Israel would pay by freeing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, with an agreement between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah over the formation of a new coalition government.

Egypt's plan would require Hamas to relinquish sole control of the Gaza Strip and agree to allow a peacekeeping force comprised of Arab soldiers to be stationed there, while Israel would have to allow the border crossings into Gaza to reopen.

Thus Egypt's proposal would turn Shalit into a pawn in talks aimed at reaching an internal Palestinian reconciliation whose chances of success are slim.

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