Israel may swap prisoners for soldier
• Olmert deal could involve hundreds of Palestinians
• Release of captive held for two years seen as priority
Peter Beaumont in Ramallah
The Guardian, Friday 23 January 2009
Israel might be prepared to swap hundreds of jailed
Palestinians for Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who has
been held in captivity in the Gaza Strip for more than two
years, senior Israeli officials indicated yesterday.
Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, said yesterday that
the Israel Defence Forces' operation in the Gaza Strip had
created "renewed momentum" to strike a deal with Hamas for
Shalit's return.
Hamas officials in Gaza and the West Bank insisted, for
their part, that Shalit, who was captured in a cross-border
raid, "would not see the light of day" unless Israel agreed
to the release of up to 1,400 Palestinian prisoners.
Shalit has become a cause célèbre in Israel. Little
information is known about his condition and there have
been unconfirmed reports that he had been injured at the
beginning of Israel's assault on Gaza.
Hamas's demands have emerged amid claims that members of
the Israeli cabinet had "softened" in their resistance to a
deal that would release a large number of Palestinian
prisoners in Israeli jails in exchange for Shalit's return.
Hamas's list includes a number of long-serving,
high-profile figures, including Marwan Barghouti, the
jailed Fatah leader, as well as Ahmad Sadat, who was
imprisoned for his part in the assassination of an Israeli
cabinet minister, Rehavim Ze'evi.
Speculation about a prisoner swap has been driven by
comments by Ze'evi's widow, Yael, who said she would not
insist on Sadat remaining in prison if it led to the
release of Shalit.
The prime minister said yesterday: "The operation created a
number of levers that can aid in the expedition of
[Shalit's] return. I will not add to this, because this
will not benefit his return. After Gilad returns home, it
will be possible to tell the whole story."
Israel's foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, who is hoping to
replace Olmert in February's elections, has also linked the
full lifting of the economic blockade on Gaza to Shalit's
release. "If there is something that Hamas wants from
Israel, we have one person that we want in return: Gilad
Shalit. It is impossible to separate the issues, and it is
impossible to advance any other issue before we work
towards what is really important to us, the release of
Gilad Shalit."
Livni's linkage of the border crossing to Shalit came as
the Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported that cabinet ministers
who had so far resisted a more widespread release than
Israel had been prepared to contemplate might now be
prepared to cut a deal.
An Israeli security official said: "There is a sense that
we can afford to relax our criteria on the prisoner
release, as any benefit to Hamas would be more than offset
by the damage it sustained in Gaza."
However, a Hamas spokesman on the West Bank, who is in
touch with the leadership in Gaza, said: "Shalit will not
see the light of day unless an honourable prisoner exchange
takes place."
Yazid Khader mentioned Marwan Barghouti and Sadat and other
"long-serving prisoners".
Abu Mujahed, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance
Committees, added: "The Israelis are wrong if they think
the war will help them pressure us on Shalit. Our demands
have not changed: the entire list of prisoners we demanded,
and in addition, launching talks on lifting the siege."
Analysts believe that Olmert may view the release of Shalit
in the last few days of his premiership as an opportunity
to repair a badly tarnished legacy that has been dogged by
allegations of corruption and poor leadership.
The effective renewal of negotiations for Shalit's release
emerged as tensions between Hamas and its political rival
Fatah appeared to be deepening over the issue of who would
be responsible for the reconstruction of Gaza.
A senior Hamas official dismissed on Thursday any
reconciliation talks with Fatah, saying that Arab and
international donations to Gaza should exclusively go to
the beleaguered coastal strip's rulers.
In Gaza the UN's humanitarian chief, John Holmes, warned
that the UN might ask Israel to compensate it for wartime
damage to its compounds in Gaza.
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