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Israel proposes to exchange Shalit for 1000 Palestinian prisoners

26 January 2009 11:17 (UTC +04:00)

Tel-Avivâ€“APA. A major Hamas figure from the delegation currently at the Cairo meetings said the party is flexible in its current negotiating position with the Israelis, but remains weary of political blackmail.
Ayman Taha reported this morning following a meeting with Egyptian Security Minister Omar Suleiman that the party was considering an Israeli proposal.
It includes a deal for a year and a half ceasefire with the partial opening of the border crossings which will remain in Israeli private management.
The second part of the proposals contains an end to the issue of the Israeli soldier captured in June 2006. Gilad Shalit would be exchanged for 1,000 Palestinian political prisoners out of the 11,000 currently in Israeli prisons, however the Israelis would name who they are. The Hamas party had provided several drafts of names to be released, asking for only 300 however the Israelis routinely refused the names. The concern is exemplified in previous prisoner releases during which those released were near the end of their sentences while others had never been charged or tried.
The Hamas spokesperson at the Cairo talks said that the Israeli administration had requested a long term ceasefire after the cessation of its attacks on the Gaza Strip but that Hamas had rejected the proposal wanting instead to see what the reality would look like before committing to more than one year. But now, as Taha said Monday, Hamas is ready â€œto show full flexibility in this subject but it will not allow [the situation] to be used for political blackmail.â€