Sources in Hamas-controlled Gaza – some unnamed, some named – say that a long-term ceasefire is close, and that Gilad Shalit will be freed in exchange for 1,000 terrorists, including 25 murderers.
The Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram quotes Hamas leader Mahmoud A-Zahar as saying that talks in Egypt for a long-term ceasefire between Israel and Hamas are “going well.” A-Zahar recently left his Gaza hideout, where he sought protection from apparent Israeli plans to kill him, to take part in the talks.
Gaza Sources: Israel to Free 1,000 Terrorists for Shalit
It was reported earlier that Israel had agreed to the Egyptian plan to release 1,000 imprisoned terrorists in exchange for captured soldier Gilad Shalit. Shalit has been in Hamas captivity for over 2.5 years, and no word has been heard from him since well before the recent war in Gaza.
Among the 1,000 to be released, according to the report in the Al-Hayat newspaper, are women, children, and Hamas leaders who were arrested after Shalit was captured. More significantly, however, is the fact that imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, responsible for the murder of over 30 Israelis, is to be freed as well, as are some 25 other terrorists convicted of murdering Israeli civilians and soldiers.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did not deny the reports, but said in response that they are "unnecessary and dangerous" and that the matter "requires caution."
A-Zahar's Past
A-Zahar has emphasized many times that while his organization may take a break from terrorism to join the political arena for a period of time, it will never abandon its platform of a Palestinian state in all of Israel. At a giant Hamas rally in Gaza City after Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, he said, "Our weapons will remain in our hands until the Palestinian flag is hoisted in Jerusalem [and] the West Bank awaits the jihad and martyrdom.”
A-Zahar is now quoted in the Egyptian paper as saying that the current talks are designed to correct the terms of the previous rough draft, which “were unclear and allowed Israel to take advantage of them to hurt the Palestinians… Our intentions are positive. We want to close this story in a way that will guarantee an end to the Israeli aggression and the removal of the boycott in all its form in order to rebuild what the aggression destroyed.”
Israel recently responded to eight years of rocket fire on Israeli towns and villages from Gaza with the three-week “Operation Cast Lead” offensive. It was designed to uproot the Hamas terrorist infrastructures and its smuggling of arms and explosives from Egypt. The hostilities caused much damage in Gaza towns, where the terrorists seek refuge among civilians and from where they often fire their rockets. Saudi Arabia immediately offered one billion dollars to help pay for the reconstruction, with Syria, Iran, and other states offering money and aid as well.
Talks May Conclude
The Hamas delegation in Cairo is planning to travel to Damascus on Sunday afternoon to brief the Hamas leadership there on the talks. The plan is to return to Cairo to conclude the final details “as soon as possible.”