Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported on Tuesday that Hamas movement
accepted Israeli offer to release 450 Palestinian detainees in the
second stage of a deal that would see the release of the Israel
corporal Gilad Shalit.
Shalit was abducted by Palestinian resistance fighters in a cross-border attack against a military base near the Gaza borders on June 25.
According to Haaretz, Palestinian sources stated that under the terms of the proposal, Hamas would give Israel a video proving that Shalit is alive, and Israel would in return release a number of women and children detained in its prisons.
The second stage of the deal will include transferring Shalit to Egypt and at the same time Israel would release 450 detainees.
Two months later, Israel would release an additional number of detainees; the number of detainees who will be freed in this stage is still undetermined since Israel refused to specify a certain number.
Israeli sources reported tat Israel “vowed to be generous” in the number of detainees who will be freed in this stage.
Also, Hamas will transfer to Israel, via Egypt, a list of names of detainees it wishes to see freed, Haaretz added.
So far, Israel has not agreed to the list of names and thee are still disputes over which detainees will be freed, the dispute could lead to a further delay in the process of releasing the detainees.
According to Haaretz, the list Hamas prepared includes members of its political wing, and Fateh members including the jailed Fateh leader Marwan Barghouthi.
Fawzi Barhoum, media spokesperson of Hamas, said that the Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman met in Saudi Arabia with the Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyya, and Hamas political bureau chief Khalid Mashal.
Moreover, an Egyptian security delegation met in Gaza on Sunday with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and updated him on the agreement between Israel and Hamas regarding the prisoner swap deal.
But disputes are still unresolved regarding the identities of the detainees who will be freed under the deal, and Hamas is still waiting the Israeli response on the list of detainees’ names it presented.
