Official involved in talks for Gilad Shalit's release says bone of contention between Jewish state, Palestinian group will only be a small number of names on list of prisoners Hamas wants freed
Ali Waked
Israel will become much more flexible in regards to the list of prisoners Hamas wants freed, a source involved in the negotiations for the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit told Ynet on Thursday. According to the source, several days after a visit to Cairo by Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad, the Israeli side gave the impression that it plans to exercise flexibility over the prisoners' list and that the bone of contention between Hamas and Israel will eventually revolve around a small number of names included in the list.
Meanwhile, a senior Palestinian source told the Saudi newspaper Okaz that Amos Gilad expressed Israel's willingness to release all the prisoners on the lists submitted by Hamas.
According to the source, the goal of the Israeli delegation to Egypt was to ensure that Hamas and the rest of the Palestinian factions holding Shalit have not toughened their conditions for the negotiations.
The official involved in the negotiations said that the fact that Gilad will likely also be in charge of the Shalit negotiations – in addition to the truce issues and matters related to Hamas and the Gaza Strip – will help advance things, as Hamas wants the Shalit issue solved as part of all of its demands in regards to the Strip.
The source estimated that Hamas members and other organization members who carried out terror attacks and were sentenced to long prison terms, including some who received consecutive life terms, will be freed as part of the deal.
"The Israeli side made an important move in approving half of the list of prisoners demanded by Hamas, but the Israelis understand that this is not enough," said the officials.
"If they wish to see Shalit released, the list must be much more generous," he added.
"One of the formulas being considered is increasing the number of prisoners in exchange for Hamas conceding prisoners which will be vetoed by Israel. We are talking about an extremely limited number of names," the source said.
'Israel will have to live with Fatah-Hamas cabinet'
The official added that in recent months, the Shalit issue has become a significant part of the internal Palestinian conflict between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas.
"Today Hamas first of all demands the release of all of its parliament members jailed in Israel. The problem is that their release could cause trouble for Abbas," the source said, noting that this could help Hamas declare Abbas' reign illegal at the beginning of 2009.
"Israel has a problem. On the one hand, the release of these people is needed for the completion of the Shalit deal, but on the other hand, the release will greatly weaken and critically harm Abbas, (Palestinian Prime Minister) Fayyad and the Palestinian Authority," he said.
The source estimated that this would make Israel change its stance in regards to an intra-Palestinian reconciliation.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has threatened that the establishment of a unity government between Abbas and Hamas will bring the Israel-PA negotiations to a halt, but according to the source, "Israel has no other choice but to accept the inter-Palestinian reconciliation.
"If Israel is really interested in seeing Shalit released, this would mean living with a government co-led by Hamas."
Hamas members have recently said they would accept most of Abbas' conditions for a reconciliation, which include waiving the control over the Gaza Strip in return for taking part in the joint formation of security organizations in Gaza and the West Bank – and in particular in exchange for a commitment by Abbas to let Hamas be a full partner in the PLO and its institutions, a condition the Palestinian president finds it difficult to agree to.
It should be noted that the agreements between Israel and the Palestinians were signed between the Israeli government and the PLO, not between the Israeli government and the PA.
Gilad Shalit was kidnapped into the Gaza Strip 844 days ago.
Roee Nahmias contributed to this report
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