Report: German mediator arrives in Gaza for fresh Shalit talks
Al-Arabiya: Mediator to relay Israel answer to Hamas demands; Hamas: Deal hinges on 50 jailed Palestinians.
By Avi Issacharoff andTomer Zarchin Tags: Gilad Shalit Israel newsThe German mediator involved in negotiations for the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit arrived in Gaza on Monday to relay Israel's answer to Hamas' demands in the talks, the Al-Arabiya TV network reported.
According to the report, the mediator was to meet with Hamas representatives later Monday, but the Islamist militant group would only respond to the Israeli offer after consultations between its leaderships in Gaza and Damascus.
Earlier Monday, a senior Hamas official said the organization is still sparring with Israel over the names of 50 prisoners it wants released in exchange for Shalit.
The official said Israel was still balking at including prominent political leaders and top Hamas militants it holds.
Last week, Israeli and Hamas officials spoke of progress, raising speculation that an agreement could be wrapped up within days. In Gaza, Hamas' interior minister said he hoped a deal would be reached by year's end.
Hamas earlier Monday accused Israel of working to sabotage the prisoner swap deal, saying negotiations were stalled due to Israel's continued refusal to accept the group's demands.
Hamas' public relations supervisor Osama Hamdan told the Al-Hayyat pan-Arab daily that figures in Israel were seeking to make the deal fail by leaking details of the negotiations, in particular with regard to the release of terrorists with "blood on their hands."
The paper quotes Hamas sources as saying that Israel is still refusing the group's demands to release senior militants Ibrahim Hamad, Abdullah Barghouti and Abbas Asayeb.
According to the report, Israel has not even agreed to raise these prisoners' names during negotiations and has rejected Hamas' offers to send them into exile following release.
The newspaper also said Israel would not agree to release five female Palestinian inmates sentenced to life in prison or other extended terms, even though their names were on the original list of 450 "heavy" prisoners set to be exchanged.
These female inmates included Ahalam Tamimi, who was Abdullah Barghouti's right-hand woman and helped carry out the deadly 2001 suicide bombing at the Sbarro pizza restaurant in Jerusalem, in which 15 people were killed.
Shalit's father: No news of breakthrough in deal
Meanwhile, Shalit's father said Monday that he has received no word of new breakthroughs in negotiations to secure a deal for his son's release.
Noam Shalit, who has recently held a series of meetings with cabinet ministers, said he "was not concerned with whether the number of prisoners to be released is disclosed," despite ongoing debate in Israel regarding the role of censorship in the prisoner swap debate.
On Sunday, the State Prosecutor's Office declared that Israel would release 980 prisoners in exchange for captive soldier Gilad Shalit. The announcement came in response to a petition filed by the parents of terror victims.
Israel and Hamas have promised the German mediator negotiating the swap that the names of inmates released would not be disclosed, in order to ensure productive negotiations without media interference.
The petition, filed by three bereaved parents in conjunction with the Almagor Terror Victims Association, asked to lift military censorship over the developing deal for Shalit's release. The High Court will hear the petition Monday afternoon.
The state prosecutor responded that Israel is weighing the option of freeing 450 prisoners in the initial stage of the deal, "based on security and moral justifications." The unilateral release of 530 more prisoners, to be selected by Israel, is being planned for a later date as a gesture to the Palestinian people. Drafting the criteria for the second stage has yet to begin, nor has a potential list of inmates been compiled.
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To #5 Israel is offering more to the world then the world is offering to Israel. The free world needs Israel more then Israel needs the free world. How can you live without cell phones?
To bedevil your enemy is cheap. It is not about nmurder.
We can play definitional games as to whether Hamas has political and terrorist wings or if they are all one big terrorist ball of wax. But if you are prepared to actually let terrorists with blood on their hands go from Hamas, why hold on to the political guys?
Tony, you make far too much sense. Unfortunately, the land that God gave the Israelies (see deed in the Dead Sea Scrolls) will never be a unified country.
...justice to the non-eqvivalent numbers, send the still surviving Sionist terrorists from the cold-blooded murder of Count Bernadotte, either to Sweden for trial or to the Hague ! Add also the operational staff of Mossad, who planned the terror-bombings in Egypt during the Lavon-affair to Egypt for trials. Then we will have almost eqvivalent numbers on both sides. Still - I am for Shalit to be free, this young guy has suffered enough.
on a tv programme.he promised blood and terror for israel when he is released.it is i suppose this sort of man who israel is not keen to let go.
This is a classic dilemma Israel has generated and dealt with before. Is freeing one soldier worth freeing hundreds of others who will commit and encourage the murder of innocent Israelis in the future. We can understand and sympathize with the Shallit family, but do we have the moral right to be pressured into committing a crime in the future? Israel has set bad precedents before, and Shallit's capture will be repeated over and over and scores of innocent Israeli's killed and maimed. Think again.
Have you noticed that about 3 or 4 times a year something comes up about Shalit only to end with Hamas falsely accusing Israel of some infraction that kills the deal. This cynical use of Shalit as a PR tool is invaluable to Hamas. They know just the use of his name ensures a world stage to spout their brand of negative press against Israel. His release will only be good for a onetime PR advantage. Although it would go a long way as a positive "good will" gesture for peace, Peace is not the goal for Hamas! It never has been. Otherwise they would have released him long ago.
No israel, No Palestine. One State Solution is the best for all. One Man, One Vote, Equality for all inhabitants. Equal Pay for Equal Work, Equal Water Rights. No Apartheid, No Segregation...A Very True Secular Democracy. Let us call it :?State of Holy Land?.
Of course the numbers are inequitable! And perhaps there will be more violence and terror from the Palestinians released in the future. But the current situation deals with a young man, kidnapped by fanatics, and who should be at home with his family despite the heavy cost. This is why Israel is a country that we respect. Palestinians aren't going to renounce terror for the prisoners but they don't renounce terror period. But Israel will get one of its sons back alive and that is a huge victory for the Israeli spirit and moral backbone of the country.
Before nearly every "goodwill gesture" release of prisoners - Israel ramps up invasions and raids in the West Bank to fill up the prisons. In fact, if you look at the numbers, previous releases of prisoners were preceded by arrests of more than the number of those released. In the end the "goodwill gestures" that Israel takes end up netting more Palestinian prisoners. If you don't believe me, do the research yourself. If these releases are gonna happen, you're going to see an increase kidnapping of Palestinians in the upcoming weeks.
I think..The senior of Hamas Khaled Mashal will not accept to release Shalet without Ebrahem Hamed..i now this guy.. he is not only Military man.. he is very clever and he will be one of leaders in office of Hamas.. he is strategic thinker..and this is a chanse for Hamas to release him.. beleive me.. i now how they are think
....of a broad peace agreement between Israel and her Arab neighbours. The more incentives there are for both sides to make peace with each other, the sooner it will come.... ....a prisoner exchange will only lessen that pressure for peace.
that is a fact.therefore we should make sure our soldiers are not caught in the first place. we have to do everything to secure the gaza border including fencing off the border with egypt.
This is a good deal for the Israelis and they should accept it immediately.
Get real mate. arms embargo on Israel could but not neccesary mean the destruction of the state of Israel. Do you Realy think that the SANE WORLD WOULD ALLOW THAT.
would not want to be released under these circumstances and if he did he probably wouldnt be worth it anyway.
The only acceptable liberation for Shalit should be by military action. Any exchange is wrong. Too bed for Shalit but the war is war and there are casualties. Every fighting soldier should remember this and act accordingly.
names of men with blood on their hands. This is honourable for Hamas (such is their sense of "honour") but it is wrong for Israel and will only encourage more of the same in the future.
Israel is acting like they're giving away a bunch of guilty people who have committed crimes but every single person they're releasing has been held without charge or trial, maybe because they're innocent and didn't do anything to deserve being there in the first place? Why else would Israel not want the names of the inmates to be released without "media interference?" Because it makes the whole situation look like this is a very disproportionate deal in the "terrorists'" favor.
Wow...such a hare brained statement!! That Gilad Shalit should become a martyr?? this coming from someone living in the comfort of his gated community in Florida. It would be interesting to see what your position would be if that was your child. Bring Shalit home now.
"If the Palestinians kill him then Israel should execute (assasinate ) Hamas leaders." errr, in case you were not aware, Israel has done that many times already.
"I presume that all those who cried about a disproportionate response from Israel to Gaza based rocket attacks, and who emphasised ad nauseum the ratio of Palestinian deaths to Israeli deaths, will now speak up about the disproportionate swap now taking place. Or will they?" What is says to the rest of the world is that Israel believes one Jew is worth 960 Palestinians (btw, would be interesting to see what the charges are that the 960 faced, and how long that have been imprisoned.
as a mother i want shalit back. but from now on the punishement of terrorist should be death. this is the only way to get rid of the fanatics who instead of fighting with honor they try to undermine peace with terror acts.
The whole point of prisoner swaps is to avoid wars. Israel isn't exactly sitting pretty in the world community. Another operation cast lead would be a PR disaster. I'm sure you understand that weapons embargoes are already a real possibility, and have been threatened by the UK. An Iranian strike would be taken off the table if it happened. The only supply of weapons would come from a country fighting two wars that outsources the production of arms. In a war of attrition that certainly wont do, and whose to say they wont follow the UK's lead? It's happened before.
how moral can such a decision be if their political futures depend on this?
The Israeli government has lost it's collective mind. Almost 1000 prisoners for one. At the very best, Israel is encouraging more kidnapping of soldiers. Shalit would better serve his country as a martyr. If the Palestinians kill him then Israel should execute (assasinate ) Hamas leaders. (since you cant kill prisoners per geneva convention.) Tell Haneyah that we will spare his life in exchange for the young soldier
I presume that all those who cried about a disproportionate response from Israel to Gaza based rocket attacks, and who emphasised ad nauseum the ratio of Palestinian deaths to Israeli deaths, will now speak up about the disproportionate swap now taking place. Or will they?
Can someone at the Israeli Foreign office let the world know just how many times Israel has freed Palestinian prisoners and terrorists since the 6 day war, 'as a gesture to the Palestinian people' And precisely what Israel has ever got in return? Puhleeze!