Delegates of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip started a tour that would include meetings with the movement’s leaders in the Arab World to discuss the file of prisoner-of-war Corporal, Gilad Shalit, who was captured by the resistance in Gaza in mid 2006. The delegates are headed by Hamas political leaders, Mahmoud Zahhar and Khalil Al Hayya. They will be heading to Sudan through Egypt.
Sources within the Hamas movement stated that the tour was supposed to be conducted last month, but was postponed due to the protests in Egypt that led to the removal of the regime of former Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak.
Meanwhile, the German mediator in the file of Shalit continued his tour between Gaza and Israel in an attempt too reach a breakthrough in the stalled file.
In Damascus, the mediator met with Hamas Political Bureau Chief, Khaled Mashal, before heading to Tel Aviv where he met with Israeli chief negotiator, Hagai Hadas.
Although details remain unclear, Hamas said that some progress was made as the German mediator presented new ideas to both sides.
Israel still rejecting the release of dozens of detainees named by Hamas in its demands.
This includes captured resistance fighters, detainees sentenced to life-terms and spent many years in Israeli prisons, in addition to political leaders such as Marwan Barghouthi of Fateh, and Ahmad Saadat, secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
