Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Hamas have taken similar stands in favor of a media blackout, which Hamas says will help it force the Olmert administration to free hundreds of terrorists in return for kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. The soldier's comrades, who complete their IDF service Tuesday, fear their comrade will return in a coffin.

"We are being released, but when will Gilad be released?" the soldiers wrote Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Shalit's fate has been thrown into a turmoil of uncertainty following last week's

'We are being released, but when will Gilad be released?' the soldiers wrote Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

approval by the Olmert administration to free Arab child murderer Samir Kuntar, four Hizbullah terrorists and the bodies of another 199 in return for the bodies of kidnapped IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. The deal still is not completed because the government also agreed to free an undetermined number of Palestinian Authority (PA) terrorists.

The Defense Minister told the Cabinet Sunday that Israel cannot continue negotiations under the media spotlight, which he said complicate the talks by releasing partial or incorrect information.

Hamas wants exactly the same policy, which it said it is copying from Hizbullah. Hamas estimates that secret negotiations were a tactic that enabled the terrorist party to exact a high price from Israel for the return of the bodies of the two soldiers.

"This case [prisoner exchange] has been closed by [the] Hamas movement, and there is a decision not to speak about it in the mass media," spokesman Ayman Taba told reporters.

Hamas Not In a Rush

Hamas, buoyed by praise of the Hizbullah deal by Fatah leader and PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, has stated it is in no hurry to rush negotiations and figures that the pressure is on the Israeli side. Last week, it suspended talks with Egypt, which has acted as a mediator with Israel.

"We could say that sooner or later, the Zionist occupation would finally bow to our demands, and if [the Zionist]entity doesn’t, then there will be no deal at all," affirmed Abu Obaida, another spokesman for Hamas which never uses the term "Israel.

Hamas has latched on to IDF counterterrorist actions, such as shooting at fishing boats that stray into Israel's waters, as alleged violations of the temporary ceasefire that went into effect a month ago. It threatened Sunday to kidnap more soldiers and return to attacking Israel.

Abu Obaida told a Gaza newspaper that "the recent Hizbullah-Zionist prisoners' swap deal proved that it is possible to break the Zionist standards in releasing detainees, and that it is also possible to achieve big victories on the occupation under the pressure of the resistance.

"We don’t trust the Zionist occupation's goodwill, and thus, we have all the right to remain vigilant and prepared in the event the Zionist occupation breached the truce and opted for military confrontation with the Palestinian resistance."



Syrian-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal stated, "We have a live prisoner, and we have no plans to retract our demands --quite the opposite."



Hamas has demanded that Egypt open up the international border at Rafiah, which straddles the Gaza and Egyptian border. Israel must give clearance to re-opening the border on a permanent basis because it decides on security clearance for European Union (EU) observers.



Despite Defense Minister Barak's call for a media blackout, at least three Cabinet ministers have come out for a swift conclusion to the two-year-old captivity of Shalit, regardless of the price. The most prominent voice is that of Cabinet minister Ami Ayalon (Labor), a former head of Israel interior security (Shin Bet).

"The similarities between the cases of Shalit and of Arad are terrifying," said Ayalon, referring to navigator Ron Arad who disappeared in Lebanon in 1986. Israel has expressed dissatisfaction that Hizbullah did not reveal complete information concerning Arad's fate.

Prime Minister Olmert has continued to issue promises to bring Shalit back home, as he has done since Shalit was captured. Immediately after the raid at a Gaza crossing that resulted in the death of two soldiers and the abduction of Shalit, Prime Minister Olmert vowed that he would not conduct any negotiations to free terrorists and would not resume talks with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas until Shalit was freed.

Shalit's father Noam pointed out last week that Abbas was in power in Gaza for a year after his son was kidnapped, before Hamas took over the region but that the Fatah leader has done nothing on behalf of Shalit.



Prime Minister Olmert told the Cabinet in broadcast remarks Sunday, "I phoned the Shalit family and promised, in all of our names, that we will do everything to bring Gilad Shalit back home -- alive, healthy, in one piece, and as quickly as possible.... We will not be still or silent until he comes back."

Hamas has demanded that Israel free terrorists who have been involved in carrying out suicide bombing attacks.