Report: Shalit deal hinges on Israel release of four terrorists

[oberliner]

A deal for the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit hinges on a dispute between Israel and Hamas over four Palestinian prisoners whom Israel refuses to free, two pan-Arab newspapers reported Monday.

Israel has agreed, however, to release all of the other prisoners Hamas is demanding in return for Shalit, the London-based dailies Al-Quds al-Arabi and Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported.

The papers named the four as Abdullah Barghouti, Ibrahim Hamad and Abbas el-Said, all Hamas men, and Ahmed Sa'adat, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Each of the prisoners was behind a string of terror attacks. Sayed was the mastermind of the massacre at the Park Hotel in Netanya on Passover in 2002, in which 29 civilians were killed.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1062750.html

[Behind the Aegis]

1. 368 just not enough for them.

Nope, they need murders of Israelis as well. They are hoping for the plum deal Hizb'allah got for two dead Israelis.

[bemildred]

2. Fatah Fears Hamas Election Landslide In Wake of Shalit Release

(IsraelNN.com) The Ramallah-based Arab Fatah faction in the Palestinian Authority is openly rejecting the freeing of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in an exchange deal being negotiated with the Gaza-based Hamas faction, saying the agreement will signal the end of an era in the relationship between Fatah and Israel.

As part of the agreement, Israel will free 1,000 Arab prisoners, including 25 convicted murderers in exchange for Shalit. Currently serving five life sentences for the brutal murder of five civilians, Fatah terror mastermind Marwan Barghouti is one of the convicts who is slated for release.

If the deal is made, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is concerned the parliament will be assembled including Hamas representatives who are now sitting in Israeli prisons, with Hamas calling for early elections in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. Due to unprecedented popular support for Hamas in the wake of its war with Israel in Gaza a month ago, Fatah believes Hamas would sweep the elections, winning not just their current stronghold in Gaza, but also Judea and Samaria, making Hamas the exclusive and legitimate elected representatives of all Palestinians.

Though Barghouti is politically popular, Arab analysts do not believe he would use this opportunity to run against the faction which secured his release from jail.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/129854

[bemildred]

3. Fatah Against Terrorist Release Deal

(IsraelNN.com) The Ramallah-based Arab Fatah faction in the Palestinian Authority is openly rejecting the freeing of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in an exchange deal being negotiated with the Gaza-based Hamas faction, saying the agreement will signal the end of an era in the relationship between Fatah and Israel.

As part of the agreement, Israel will free 1,000 Arab prisoners, including 25 convicted murderers in exchange for Shalit. Currently serving five life sentences for the brutal murder of five civilians, Fatah terror mastermind Marwan Barghouti is one of the convicts who is slated for release.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/160506