Israel offers new deal for release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit - Haaretz

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Thu., September 06, 2007 Elul 23, 5767

Israel Time: 02:07 (EST+7)

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Israel offers new deal for release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit

By Avi Issacharoff, Amos Harel and Jack Khoury

Israel recently sent Hamas a new proposal in its negotiations to secure the return of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. However, no details of the proposal are known, and Hamas has not yet responded to it.

In addition, European officials from more than one country recently began mediating between Israel and Hamas over Shalit, a senior Hamas official said yesterday. He declined to specify which countries, but said that he was not referring to Norway, which recently announced that it was involved in the issue.

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The official added that the chief European mediator, whom he declined to name, is working according to the same guidelines that a German intelligence official is using, in his efforts to mediate between Israel and Hezbollah over the two soldiers that Hezbollah kidnapped last summer.

Egypt, the official added, is also still playing an important role in the negotiations, since it is well-versed in all the details of the talks to date. However, the one-time chief mediator has recently lowered its profile.

Also yesterday, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross said that Red Cross representatives might soon be allowed to visit Shalit - something Hamas has hitherto not allowed. Angelo Gnaedinger made the announcement following a meeting with Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza.

Gnaedinger said that he had asked Haniyeh to allow his organization access to Shalit, and that Haniyeh promised to consider the request. Palestinian sources confirmed this.

However, Haniyeh himself made no public statement on the issue yesterday, merely saying that he hoped a prisoner exchange would be finalized soon.

Hamas kidnapped Shalit to Gaza in a cross-border raid in June 2006. A few months ago, Israel agreed to release 350 Palestinian prisoners - mostly from Hamas - in exchange for Shalit's transfer to Egypt, and another 100 upon his arrival in Israel.

However, the parties were unable to agree on which prisoners would be released. Israel rejected all but 40 of the names on the list Hamas submitted, because they had been involved in particularly deadly terror attacks. Since then, the talks have been on ice.

Compounding the stalemate, Egypt pulled out of its role as mediator after Hamas took over the Gaza Strip, following a week of pitched battles against Fatah in June. A month ago, Cairo said it was willing to resume its efforts, but it has done little since then.

Egyptian officials said recently that a deal with Hamas would be contrary to the interests of Egypt, Israel and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority, since an Israeli release of prisoners to Hamas would merely strengthen the Islamic organization. Nevertheless, Israel wants to cut a deal, and therefore submitted its new proposal.

Moreover, Egypt itself is divided on the issue: the Foreign Ministry opposes the talks, but the intelligence services support them.

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