Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated Monday that efforts are being conducted to the release of the captured soldier, Gilad Shalit, but so far no deal was reached, and that should a deal be reached, it should be first approved by the cabinet.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated Monday that efforts are being conducted to the release of the captured soldier, Gilad Shalit, but so far no deal was reached, and that should a deal be reached, it should be first approved by the cabinet.
Netanyahu added that efforts would resume to secure a deal, but the recent development and progress should be first discussed and finalized before jumping to any conclusions.
His statements came during a meeting with leaders and members of his Likud party. He said that Israel wants to bring its soldier back home, but at the same time it wants to act in order to avoid any future kidnapping of its soldiers.
Following reports of progress in Shalit talks, Hamas dispatched a delegation to Cairo in order to hold a meeting with Egyptian security officials. Egypt and Germany are the main mediators in prisoner-swap talks.
The Hamas delegation, headed by Mahmoud Zahhar, consists of senior leaders of the movement who travelled from Gaza and Syria.
Yet, a deal seems to be far away as Israel is still refusing to release Arab detainees, residents of Jerusalem and Israel, and is still refusing to release Fateh leader, Marwan Barghouthi, and Secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Ahmad Saadat.
Israel is also rejecting to release a number of detainees presented by Hamas and claimed that they ‘have blood on their hands’.
Furthermore, Hamas rejected an Israeli demand to deport some of the released detainees to the Gaza Strip.
