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The agreement comes two days before the issue was to be discussed at a meeting scheduled between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
The two leaders are to meet in advance of a visit to the region by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice planned for this weekend.
The prisoner swap is not a “done deal” by any means, despite media headlines saying that Hamas has accepted Israel’s proposal to release jailed Palestinian Authority terrorists in return for Shalit’s freedom.
What is certain is confirmation by Hamas spokesman Fuazi Barhum that a meeting was held in Saudi Arabia between Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and the two highest Hamas officials - PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and the group’s Damascus-based politburo chief, arch-terrorist Khaled Mashaal.
On paper, the deal - and its catches - is working out like this: Israel is to first receive a video from Hamas terrorists showing that IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped during a cross-border raid from Gaza in June 2006, is still alive.
In return, Israel would release imprisoned PA women and minors. Catch Number One comes in this first step: the number of prisoners to be freed in this stage has not yet been set - thus that agreement by Hamas is not assured.
In the second stage, the terrorists will transfer Shalit to Egypt, from where he will be brought to Israel. Simultaneously, Israel will free 450 PA terrorists. Only this number is being publicized, leading the public to think that this is the sum total of free terrorists - when in fact Israel must also free prisoners before and after this stage.
Hamas will give Egyptian officials a list of those terrorists it is demanding from the Jewish State. Israel is being asked to approve and comply with this demand, hence, Catch Number Two. If Israel does not approve the list, Hamas may not cooperate.
If the first two hurdles are successfully managed, step number three will take place approximately two months later, when Israel is expected to release more PA terrorists. Again, Hamas will present Egyptian officials with a list of the prisoners it would like Israel to free.
Although Israel allegedly has the right to decide how many and which prisoners are to be released, and has promised to be ‘generous” in this third stage, the list has yet to be finalized and approved by Israel - Catch Number Three.
The chances of the deal coming to fruition are further lessened due to the fact that the list that Hamas has already presented to Egyptian officials includes top terrorists that Israel has said it will never release, such as Marwan Barghouti.
The two leaders are to meet in advance of a visit to the region by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice planned for this weekend.
The prisoner swap is not a “done deal” by any means, despite media headlines saying that Hamas has accepted Israel’s proposal to release jailed Palestinian Authority terrorists in return for Shalit’s freedom.
What is certain is confirmation by Hamas spokesman Fuazi Barhum that a meeting was held in Saudi Arabia between Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and the two highest Hamas officials - PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and the group’s Damascus-based politburo chief, arch-terrorist Khaled Mashaal.
On paper, the deal - and its catches - is working out like this: Israel is to first receive a video from Hamas terrorists showing that IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped during a cross-border raid from Gaza in June 2006, is still alive.
In return, Israel would release imprisoned PA women and minors. Catch Number One comes in this first step: the number of prisoners to be freed in this stage has not yet been set - thus that agreement by Hamas is not assured.
In the second stage, the terrorists will transfer Shalit to Egypt, from where he will be brought to Israel. Simultaneously, Israel will free 450 PA terrorists. Only this number is being publicized, leading the public to think that this is the sum total of free terrorists - when in fact Israel must also free prisoners before and after this stage.
Hamas will give Egyptian officials a list of those terrorists it is demanding from the Jewish State. Israel is being asked to approve and comply with this demand, hence, Catch Number Two. If Israel does not approve the list, Hamas may not cooperate.
If the first two hurdles are successfully managed, step number three will take place approximately two months later, when Israel is expected to release more PA terrorists. Again, Hamas will present Egyptian officials with a list of the prisoners it would like Israel to free.
Although Israel allegedly has the right to decide how many and which prisoners are to be released, and has promised to be ‘generous” in this third stage, the list has yet to be finalized and approved by Israel - Catch Number Three.
The chances of the deal coming to fruition are further lessened due to the fact that the list that Hamas has already presented to Egyptian officials includes top terrorists that Israel has said it will never release, such as Marwan Barghouti.
