Barghouti. To be released?
Photo: Yariv Katz
Shalit. 733 days in captivity
Photo: AP
Report: Israel seeks to deport prisoners to Gaza
Al-Sharq al-Awsat reports Israel offered to transfer senior prisoners to Gaza instead of releasing them to their homes in West Bank; according to report, Hamas rejected proposal
Israel
has offered to release Palestinian prisoners with blood on their hands as part of the deal for kidnapped soldier
Gilad Shalit's release, and to transfer them to the Gaza Strip instead of sending them back to their homes in the West Bank, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat reported Friday.
Al-Sayed, who was sentenced to a long prison term in Israel, is the person behind the terror attack at Netanya's Park Hotel on March 2002, which left 33 Israelis killed and dozens injured.
According to the report, if Hamas agrees to the offer relayed through Egypt, Israel will release all the prisoners demanded by the Palestinian movement, including Abbas al-Sayed, commander of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades – Hamas' military wing – in the West Bank city of Tulkarem.
Cairo Talks
Prime Minister Olmert's envoy overseeing MIA affairs heads to Cairo for refocused negotiations with Hamas for Gilad Shalit's release. Egyptian official says both parties expected to continue talks until result finalized while Israel warns it will not be willing to pay every price
According to the reported proposal, the Jewish state will also release a series of senior Izz al-Din al-Qassam members in the West Bank, who have received life sentences for their involvement in various terror attacks.
The report went on to say that Hamas had rejected Israel's offer. Fawzi Barhoum, an organization spokesman, told the newspaper that the movement would never accept the conversion of a prison sentences into a deportation.
"Israel is trying to avoid accepting Hamas' demands," he said.
Barghouti, Saadat on Hamas list
The London-based al-Hayat newspaper reported Friday that Ofer Dekel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's appointed envoy overseeing MIA affairs, arrived in Cairo on Thursday for a meeting with Egyptian Intelligence Chief General Omar Suleiman.
According to the report, Dekel gave Suleiman a list of some 450 Palestinian prisoners which Israel is willing to release at the first stage of the Shalit deal, out of a list of about 1,000 prisoners Hamas would like to see freed.
The report said Dekel left Cairo after the meeting and would return next week, after a Hamas delegation delivers its answer to the proposal.
Egyptian sources told the newspaper that two of the senior prisoners Hamas demands to see released as part of the first stage of the deal are Popular Front Secretary-General Ahmad Saadat, jailed for his involvement in the assassination of Minister Rehavam Ze'evi, and former Fatah Secretary-General in the West Bank Marwan Marghouti, who received five life sentences for his involvement in terror attacks.
Other prisoners included in the Hamas list are Amna Mouna, who murdered an young Israeli after seducing him on the internet, and senior Izz al-Din al-Qassam members Yahya al-Sinuar and Rohi Mushtaha.
According to an Egyptian source, "There are 500 prisoners expected to be released in about two months after the deal is implemented, including prisoners sentenced to short prison terms, as well as women and minors."
