The Palestinian Authority (PA) has repeated a previous media ploy of stating that kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit will be freed soon while at the same time sending Israel another list of prisoners and terrorists it demands in return - including arch-murderer Marwan Barghouti.
Government sources responded to the latest announcement cautiously, stating that there "has been some progress" but warning that concluding a deal may be a long time away.
Neither the PA nor Israel discussed which names are on the latest list, but the Hebrew news site NFC reported Saturday night that it includes arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti, serving multiple life terms for murder, and Ahmed Sadat, who killed former Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi in 2001.
The possibility of the release of such murderers has outraged many in Israel; even Voice of Israel legal-affairs commentator Moshe Negbi, whose views generally jibe with Israel's left-wing, hinted that Acting President Dalia Itzik or Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz could thwart the move by refusing to pardon them. Negbi noted that the late Ezer Weizman, when he served as President, "stood on his hind legs and refused to pardon terrorists when he thought it inappropriate."
The PA often has painted an optimistic outlook for the release of Shalit, kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in a cross-border raid that also killed two other soldiers last June 25. Shalit's father Noam, also interviewed by France 24, commented that all the previous statements about an imminent deal have proven to be false. Responding to the latest PA promises, he told Army Radio Saturday night, "It's just more talk."
Throughout all prisoner negotiations for the release of Shalit, Israel has refused to break its policy of not releasing terrorists "with blood on their hands," meaning those who have been involved in murdering Israelis.
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas started the latest media manipulation Friday with a statement to France 24 that Shalit "will be freed soon." PA Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti followed him on Saturday by declaring that Egyptian intermediaries sent Israel a list of the prisoners and terrorists who must be released in order to secure the freedom of Shalit. Barghouti insisted he did not know how many names were on the list and added, "The ball is in Israel's court."
However, Abbas added, that the issue of Shalit is separate from the demands from Israel on releasing prisoners and terrorists. "One thing does not depend on the other," Abbas insisted, despite Barghouti's contrary statement.
Foreign and Israeli media on Friday headlined a report from an Arab newspaper in Nazareth that Egyptian officials mediated so that Shalit could receive eyeglasses that his parents several times have tried to send him. The soldiers' captors, who still have not been identified, have not confirmed or denied that Shalit received his glasses, but Red Cross officials said that the terrorists agreed to accept the spectacles.
International law requires that kidnapped victims be allowed visits by the Red Cross, which usually acts as a mediator to deliver letters from family and to check their condition. However, the terrorists holding Shalit have not been identified nor has there been any been any sign of his fate or condition.
In response to a question as to when Israel could receive proof that Shalit is alive and in good condition, Hamas spokesman Razi Hamad said, "I hope and believe they are in good condition." Interviewer Chaim Zisovitch of Voice of Israel did not follow up the question.
Similarly, Hizbullah terrorists who kidnapped IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev last July have not divulged any information despite Israel's having allowed the Red Cross to visit three Hizbullah terrorists who were captured during the war last summer.
A Hizbullah official said Friday that Goldwasser and Regev are receiving "humane treatment," indicating that the soldiers still are alive. Initial reports after their abduction described them as having been seriously wounded.
However, Israeli officials as well as the wife of Goldwasser have doubted the reliability of the report in the Nazareth newspaper by Mahmoud Komati, the deputy leader of Hizbullah political bureau. The terrorist organization's Al Manar television station denied the report.
Goldwasser's wife Karnit said, "This is not a turning point, this is not a sign of life... A sign of life is when someone sees them, and a Red Cross representative must see them."