Hamas leaders declared Thursday they are boycotting indirect talks with Israel that have been held towards freeing kidnapped IDF Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit. However, Fatah officials in the Palestinian Authority (PA) said Wednesday that Hamas terrorists are lying when they say they are not sitting down with Egyptian mediators.
Defense Ministry political-security bureau director Amos Gilad traveled to Egypt Thursday to continue negotiations for Shalit’s release.
Hamas said it will not join the negotiations until Israel frees Hamas political leaders, agrees to open the border at Rafiah and promises to carry out conditions of the temporary ceasefire.
Israel has stated that the tahadiyeh, or temporary truce that began June 19, specified that the Egyptian border at Rafiah will only be opened on the condition that Shalit is freed. Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai reiterated that stance earlier this week, saying that Israel would not open the crossing until Shalit, abducted by Hamas two years ago, is returned.
“Forget about it,” he said flatly during a tour of the Kerem Shalom Crossing near the spot where Shalit was taken hostage on June 25, 2006. “Unequivocally, opening the Rafiah Crossing and the crossing of Palestinians into Egypt is conditional on the release of Gilad Shalit.”
In a rare show of consistency and solidarity, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni’s bureau issued a statement several days earlier with exactly the same language.
“The opening of the Rafiah Crossing must be linked to Gilad Shalit, and if it is opened this must be done in coordination with Palestinian Authority forces in a manner that prevents the strengthening of Hamas,” it read.