Egyptian mediators are renewing plans for a two-step prisoner exchange to win the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit from ruling Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
The plan is similar to those proposed in the past. In the first stage, Israel would free 300 Palestinian Authority terrorists and Shalit would be handed over to the Egyptians, according to a source quoted by the AFP news agency.
In the second stage, the rest of the 1,000 terrorists whose freedom is demanded by the terrorist organization would be freed, and Shalit would be returned to Israel.
"However, the glitch in the plan, as has been in previous attempts, is that there are some names of terrorists [on the list] whose release would be unacceptable for Israeli public opinion," said the source. "The question is whether Hamas is flexible enough to remove such names."
Ofer Dekel, Israel’s chief negotiator for Shalit’s freedom has been in “intensive” closed-door talks in Cairo since Tuesday night, and is scheduled to remain there on Thursday. Egyptian sources reported progress in the Cairo-mediated talks.
Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he is anxious to bring about Shalit’s release before he leaves office. Shalit’s family has been conducting an intense campaign, to complete the negotiations before Prime Minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu takes office.
Newly-elected Prime Minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu reportedly sent a message to Olmert on Wednesday saying that he would not interfere with any agreement for Shalit’s release arranged by the current government. Netanyahu has until April 3 to lock down final coalition deals for Israel’s incoming government.