Hamas: Gaps remain over prisoner swap with Israel

A Palestinian child stands in front of a banner with portraits of prisoners during a demonstration calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli Jails, in Gaza City, Monday, Nov. 30, 2009. (AP Photo/ Tara Todras-Whitehill)

 

Hamas: Gaps remain over prisoner swap with Israel

By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH

The Associated Press

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Senior Hamas officials said Monday that the Islamic militant group is still sparring with Israel over the names of 50 prisoners it wants released in exchange for a captive Israeli soldier, signaling there were still significant gaps before completing the anticipated deal.

A Palestinian child stands in front of a banner with portraits of prisoners during a demonstration calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli Jails, in Gaza City, Monday, Nov. 30, 2009. (AP Photo/ Tara Todras-Whitehill)

 

Last week, Israeli and Hamas officials spoke of progress, raising speculation that an agreement could be wrapped up within days. Hamas is demanding some 1,000 prisoners in exchange for an Israeli soldier it has held for more than three years.

But Hamas officials said Israel is still balking at including prominent political leaders and top Hamas militants it holds. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the German-mediated negotiations.

At the top of the contested list is Marwan Barghouti, a popular leader of Hamas' rival Fatah, who is serving five consecutive life terms for his role in shooting attacks that killed four Israelis and a Greek monk. Barghouti is seen as a possible successor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel is wary of freeing him.

A German mediator has been based in Jerusalem for the past three months, shuttling regularly to Gaza to broker terms of the agreement, a Hamas official said. He said that in addition to the 50 disputed names, the sides are also arguing over Israel's demand that some 130 people be deported after their release. Hamas wants that number reduced.

Still, in Gaza, Hamas' interior minister, Fathi Hamad, said the group hoped to complete the deal by the Dec. 14 anniversary of its founding, or Dec. 27, the one-year anniversary of a fierce Israeli offensive in Gaza. "It will be a celebration of the liberation of prisoners from the jails of the occupation," he said.

A Palestinian border official confirmed that two German diplomats had entered Gaza from Israel on Monday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the press. The German Embassy in Tel Aviv declined comment.

Mohammed Nazal, a senior member of Hamas' exiled political leadership based in Damascus, Syria, said progress was being made.

"TheGerman mediator is very active, very professional. He devotes his time shuttling between the Palestinians and the Israelis negotiating over every single name on the list," he said.

Israeli officials have refused to discuss the status of negotiations. But in response to a petition filed by a victims' rights group, the Israeli Justice Ministry confirmed that a total of 980 prisoners were set for release — the first concrete details on the deal the Israelis have released. It refused a request to identify the prisoners who would be freed and said the names would be made public once the deal was approved.

"In principle there is a possibility that 450 prisoners who were demanded by the Hamas will be released. Their release is being studied meticulously in accordance to various considerations and on a rational security basis," the statement said. "In addition there will be a unilateral release as a gesture to the Palestinian people where about 530 additional prisoners will be released."

Israel is eager to see the release of Sgt. Gilad Schalit, whose plight has generated much empathy from the public. At the same time, the government fears the deal could bolster Hamas at the expense of Abbas.

The Western-backed president has been in a bitter rivalry with Hamas since the Islamic group defeated his forces and seized control of Gaza in June 2007. Abbas now governs from the West Bank.

In an attempt to strengthen Abbas and restart peace talks, Israel last week announced a 10-month moratorium on new construction in West Bank settlements.

On Monday, Israel began enforcing the order by sending out inspectors to halt illegal construction. The military said the inspectors handed out a number of stop-work orders and confiscated some building equipment.

Yesha, the West Bank settlers' council, issued a statement saying it would not cooperate with the inspectors. It did not say whattactics it would use, saying only that local settlement leaders would decide on a case-by-case basis how to respond.

The Palestinians have said they will not resume peace negotiations until Israel halts all settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — areas they claim for a future independent state.

They have said the Israeli settlement freeze is insufficient because it does not include east Jerusalem or 3,000 West Bank homes already being built or approved for construction.

___

Associated Press Writer Diaa Hadid contributed to this report from Gaza City, Gaza Strip.

 

Hamas: Prisoner swap snagged on top militants

Sana Haraz, 48, holds a photograph of her husband, who is jailed in Israel, at her home in Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. Haraz's husband Nafez was jailed by Israel 24 years ago for killing an Israeli citizen in 1982. She hopes that her husband will be released as a part of a prisoner swap with Israel in exchange for Hamas militants freeing captured soldier Sgt. Gilad Schalit, seized three years ago in a crossborder raid. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

 

Hamas: Prisoner swap snagged on top militants

 

By DIAA HADID, Associated Press Writer

Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 4:03 a.m.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Prisoner swap talks between Hamas and Israel have hit a snag over some of top militants the Islamic group wants to be freed and a deal is unlikely in the coming days, Hamas officials said Wednesday.

Israel is objecting to some of the names put forward by Hamas, a senior official of the militant group familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. He said the German mediator shuttling between the sides had presented an alternative list of names provided by Israel, and Hamas leaders were studying it.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were ongoing and at a sensitive point. The sober assessment came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also cautioned that a deal was not a sure thing.

Israeli officials, also speaking anonymously, said they did not expect a breakthrough in the coming days.

Israeli and Hamas officials have both expressed cautious optimism in recent days, raising speculation that after more than three years of efforts, a deal was near to exchange captive Israeli soldier Sgt. Gilad Schalit for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Schalit was seized by Gaza militants in a cross-border raid in 2006. Hamas is demanding the release of top militants and political leaders serving lengthy sentences for involvement in deadly attacks on Israelis.

Hamas officials refused to say which names were holding up the deal. But the London-based Arabic daily al-Hayat said they included Ibrahim Hamed, the former commander of Hamas' military wing in the West Bank and mastermind of a Jerusalem suicide bombing that killed 11 people in 2002 and Abdullah Barghouti, a mastermind of several suicide bombings serving several dozen life sentences.

Hamas appears to be demanding the release of Abbas Sayid as well, a planner of a 2002 suicide bombing at a hotel that killed 30 people celebrating the Jewish Passover holiday, according to lawyer Jawad Immawi, a senior official in the Palestinian Prisoners Affairs ministry, which employs many of the lawyers who represent high-level inmates.

Immawi told the AP that all three militants had quietly agreed to be deported from the Palestinian territories if they are included. It was not clear, however, whether Israel would agree to release them.

Egyptian-mediated negotiations over Schalit have repeatedly broken down, but took a positive turn when a German mediator become involved earlier this year.

"Optimism is not a part of our political dictionary," a Hamas legislator in Gaza, Salah Bardwil, said Wednesday. "The German mediator is serious, but it's too soon to say if a deal has been prepared or if there's progress."

Later Wednesday, Israel's security cabinet, a group of top ministers and security chiefs, was set to convene in Jerusalem for a prescheduled meeting aimed at discussing Palestinian issues. There was no specific word as to what Wednesday's agenda would be, but the emerging Schalit deal is expected to be raised.

Israel holds more than 7,500 Palestinians in prison, and virtually every Palestinian family has a relative, friend or neighbor who has spent time behind bars, making prisoner releases an emotional issue.

But prisoner releases also touch a raw nerve in Israel, where arguments rage between those who see the government as caving in to violence against those who think the country must do everything it can to rescue its soldiers.

In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Web sites, newspapers and radio stations have been obsessively following the deal and highlighting the suffering of Palestinian families nervously waiting to find out if their loved ones will be included in a deal.

In the West Bank, the family of Hamed, the jailed militant commander, said they still had no firm word on whether he would be included in the deal.

His brother, Naim Hamed, pleaded to Hamas to bring the prisoner home. "Be strong in your demands, give joy to mothers like my mother who hasn't seen her son in more than 11 years," he said.

–––––

AP correspondents Mohammed Daraghmeh and Dalia Nammari in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.

The Associated Press

Netanyahu: Prisoner swap not a done deal

Netanyahu: Prisoner swap not a done deal

By AMY TEIBEL Associated Press

JERUSALEM — Israel's prime minister tried on Tuesday to temper expectations that a deal to free an Israeli soldier held by Hamas militants for more than three years was close, despite a rash of reports that serious progress has been made.

"There is no deal yet and there might not be one," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, as contacts continued over the fate of captured soldier Sgt. Gilad Schalit and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners who would be freed if an exchange takes place.

A Hamas delegation was in Egypt on Tuesday meeting with the German official trying to finalize an agreement. Egyptian officials said a deal was close but was unlikely to be sealed in the next few days. They were speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

In recent days, officials have been stoking expectations with indications that a deal was just days away.

Schalit, captured in a cross-border raid in June 2006, is being held in Gaza by militants affiliated with the territory's Iranian-backed Hamas rulers.

The Egyptian officials said they were mediating between Israeli and Palestinian officials, who were now negotiating over the names of prisoners to be released, and how many would be deported.

They said Israeli officials were showing more flexibility in the talks.

They said Hamas officials were insisting that two top imprisoned Palestinian leaders, Marwan Barghouti and Ahmed Saadat, be released.

Israeli officials would not confirm any of the information, and Netanyahu himself has warned of "distorted" reports in the media.

Continued violence between the two sides also threatened to undercut progress. Israeli aircraft attacked a suspected weapons factory and smuggling tunnels in Gaza early Tuesday in response to rocket fire the previous day by Palestinian militants. The rocket attack came despite Hamas' announcement over the weekend that other militant groups had agreed to halt their fire.

The visiting German foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, refused to comment on the status of the negotiations. "I can simply express the hope that the talks will lead to a good and humane solution," he said during a stop in the West Bank.

In Paris, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said negotiations appeared to be "evolving in a positive direction."

Prisoner exchange deals are sensitive to both Palestinians and Israelis.

Israel holds over 7,500 Palestinians ranging from those who hurled rocks at soldiers to undertaking deadly attacks. Virtually every Palestinian family has a relative, friend or neighbor who has spent time behind bars, making prisoner releases an emotional issue.

One inmate is Nafez Haraz, who has spent 24 years in prison for killing an Israeli civilian in 1982.

"Every day we hear something different, and it creates anxiety and depression," said Haraz's wife, Sana, 48.

When he was arrested, Sana was a young mother of six children, the last born while her husband was in jail. Now they have 21 grandchildren.

The long ordeal of the soldier and his family have touched a nerve in Israel, where arguments rage between those who see prisoner exchanges as rewarding militants for taking hostages and fear a repeat of past experiences in which freed Palestinian militants carried out fatal attacks, and those who see it is the government's duty to do all they can to free soldiers in a society where military service is compulsory.

Ron Kehrmann's 17-year-old daughter, Tal, was killed in a 2003 bus bombing. On Tuesday, he and several other bereaved parents petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court to lift the censorship the military has imposed on the emerging deal.

"We want everyone to know what the price is," Kehrmann said.

The sight of hundreds of jubilant Palestinian militants, freed in exchange for a lone captured Israeli soldier, would also be hard for Rami Elhanan to see. His 14-year-old daughter, Smadar, was killed in a suicide bombing attack in Jerusalem in 1997.

But Elhanan supports a deal.

"I can understand the pain of those who don't want to release them," said Elhanan, who belongs to a group of 500 Palestinian and Israeli families who lost loved ones in fighting but champion reconciliation. But, he said, "if we know how to use it as a leverage for dialogue, then maybe something good will come out of something evil," he said.

_______

With reporting by Salah Nasrawi in Cairo and Diaa Hadid in Gaza City.

 

Israel, Hamas Near Swap of Prisoners for Soldier

Israel, Hamas move closer to deal on swapping Palestinian prisoners for captive soldier

By JOSEF FEDERMAN and DIAA HADID Associated Press Writers
JERUSALEM November 23, 2009 (AP)

Hamas leaders raced to Egypt on Monday amid signs of progress on a deal to swap hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for a captive Israeli soldier held by the Islamic militant group for more than three years.

The exchange could boost Hamas at the expense of its key rival, Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in part because one of the prisoners to be freed is Marwan Barghouti, his main challenger.

Officials on both sides cautioned against exaggerated optimism that a deal is about to be concluded. Even so, conditions for a deal appear to be ripening on both sides.

Israel and Hamas have been locked in on-again, off-again talks since Gaza militants tunneled into Israel and captured Sgt. Gilad Schalit in a 2006 raid that killed two other soldiers. Until recently, the Egyptian-mediated talks had made little progress.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is eager for a breakthrough. Bringing Schalit home would give him a huge domestic boost and provide an important diplomatic victory at a time when much of the international community is criticizing him for not doing enough to promote peace.

Israel's ceremonial president, Shimon Peres, confirmed progress in the talks after meeting with Egypt's president Sunday in Cairo.

Hamas, the Iranian-backed militant group that controls Gaza, is also hungry for progress. Exchanging Schalit for hundreds of prisoners would provide a swift popularity boost for the militant group among Palestinians, who see the imprisonment of thousands of their countrymen in Israeli jails as one of their main grievances against Israel.

It could also help ease the group's deep international isolation and lead to a lifting of a bruising Israeli economic blockade. The embargo, imposed after Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, has prevented repairs of heavy damage inflicted by an Israeli military offensive nearly a year ago.

The recent involvement of German mediators, who enjoy the trust of both sides, also has improved the climate.

While previous attempts to reach a deal have repeatedly broken down, both sides have signaled they are serious.

Though no official statements have been made, it appears that Netanyahu is prepared to release more hard-core Palestinian militants than his predecessor, Ehud Olmert, fulfilling a key Hamas demand. He also is believed to have agreed to include some Israeli-Arab prisoners in the deal.

Hamas has shown flexibility on some important issues, particularly Israel's insistence that some 150 prisoners are expected to be deported to countries elsewhere in the Middle East or Europe — although still to be worked out is whether these would eventually be allowed to return to the Palestinian territories. Hamas also released a video of Schalit last month, the most solid confirmation he is alive.

In a sign of its seriousness, Hamas said over the weekend that all of Gaza's militant groups had agreed to suspend rocket attacks on Israel. However, the Israeli military said Palestinians fired a rocket at Israel after nightfall Monday. Israel has vowed to retaliate for every rocket attack, and such an exchange could unravel the prisoner swap.

A senior Hamas delegation led by strongman Mahmoud Zahar and two top members of the group's armed wing, which is holding Schalit, crossed into Egypt from Gaza. Witnesses said Israeli military helicopters hovered overhead as the delegation headed to the border, though the Israeli military said it had no aircraft in the area at the time.

A member of Hamas' Syrian-based leadership, Moussa Abu Marzouk, said "there is progress" in the talks but gave no details on the timing of a possible deal.

Late Monday, the Hamas leadership in Damascus, Syria, issued a statement charging that Israel was trying to create pressure through leaks to the media. The statement said it was "too early to speak about certain results or a close agreement on the deal."

Speaking to members of his Likud Party, Netanyahu cautioned it could be some time before an agreement is completed. He told lawmakers he would hold a parliamentary debate on any deal and bring it to his Cabinet for approval.

Netanyahu could face some opposition in his hard-line coalition, but would likely be able to pass the swap in his Cabinet. The deal would also be subject to a 48-hour period for opponents to file legal challenges.

A Palestinian familiar with the talks said Israel was preparing to release some 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in the swap. The Palestinian, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the prisoners would be released in two stages.

The initial batch of 450 people is expected to include many serving lengthy sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis. Among them would be Barghouti, a popular leader of Hamas rival Fatah, who is serving five consecutive life terms for his role in shooting attacks that killed four Israelis and a Greek monk.

Several Palestinian officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said the sides had agreed on the names and numbers of prisoners to be freed, and that only smaller details, such as logistics and timing, needed to be ironed out. The Palestinian close to the talks said there were hopes that details could be resolved by the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha this weekend.

He said the first batch of prisoners would be released as Schalit is handed over to the Egyptians, and then returned to Israel. The remaining prisoners would be released, weeks or even months later.

A mass release would boost Hamas in its rivalry with Abbas. The sides have been in a bitter power struggle since Hamas ousted Abbas' forces and took control of Gaza in 2007. Abbas, who favors a negotiated peace deal with Israel, governs only in the West Bank.

With peace efforts at a standstill for nearly a year, Abbas already is deeply unpopular with the Palestinian public. The prisoner release is likely to reinforce the notion that Hamas' violent struggle against Israel is far more effective than Abbas' pursuit of a peaceful settlement.

The release of Barghouti, a member of Abbas' Fatah party, could also complicate things for the president. The charismatic Barghouti is widely popular with the Palestinian public and is seen as a strong contender for president.

Abbas has said he will not run for re-election, but aides say he has not ruled out the idea altogether. Barghouti's emergence on the political scene could force the 74-year-old Abbas aside.

Barghouti favors a peace agreement with Israel. But in contrast to Abbas, he does not rule out the use of violent "resistance" as a tactic.

Some say, however, that Barghouti could emerge as an important unifying figure among the Palestinians. He has good relations with Hamas and may be the only figure capable of ending the divisions between the two Palestinian governments.

The release of Schalit would give Netanyahu a major domestic political victory.

Schalit's plight has transfixed the nation for three years. A protest tent by Schalit supporters stands outside the prime minister's official residence, bumper stickers with the soldier's image are everywhere, and the soldier's father, Noam Schalit, is a ubiquitous presence on Israeli TV as he campaigns for his son's freedom.

Netanyahu's hostage negotiator briefed the father on the progress Monday.

"We hope to see Gilad home after so many years," Noam Schalit said later Monday. "Unfortunately I cannot say anything. Now is not the time for chatter, but for deeds."

———

Hadid reported from Gaza City.

UN: Gaza needs construction material before winter

By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer

Thousands of Gaza Palestinians left homeless by an Israeli invasion face a cold and rainy winter unless Israel allows building supplies in, a senior U.N. official said Monday.
But Israel has ruled out unrestricted shipments, fearing the material would be used by militants.
Thousands of homes in Gaza were damaged or destroyed during Israel's fierce three-week winter offensive against the territory's Hamas rulers, aimed at stopping years of rocket attacks.
Although the offensive ended nine months ago, the homes have not been repaired because Israel does not allow raw materials to enter the territory, part of its two-year blockade imposed after Hamas seized power in Gaza.
"For the people in Gaza, life is miserable, life is not getting better, winter is coming, the rain is coming," Maxwell Gaylard, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said after touring a badly hit Gaza neighborhood.
The overcrowded, poverty-stricken Gaza Strip, a sliver of land along the Mediterranean Sea, has short rainy winters that usually begin by December.
In the Israeli offensive that started Dec. 27, about 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including hundreds of civilians, according to U.N. and Palestinian estimates. Thirteen Israelis also were killed. Israel's count of Palestinian dead was about 1,100.
The U.N. estimates around 20,000 Gaza residents were made homeless by the offensive. Some 3,500 homes were destroyed, another 2,800 were badly damaged and around 53,000 others sustained minor damage.
"When it rains, it rains on us," said Karima Juneid, 56, a Gaza woman living in a trailer close to where her family's four-story apartment building once stood.
Juneid is one of around 2,000 Gaza residents who still live in donated trailers and tents in heavily damaged areas. Most residents have crowded into apartments with relatives or have recycled old materials to fix their homes.
Wealthier Gazans have been able to buy smuggled concrete and glass on the black market at four times the pre-blockade price.
Juneid's trailer is crammed with three piled up mattresses where she and her sons sleep at night, while outside is a makeshift shaded area where they raise two chickens.
Abandoned by her husband, Juneid said she does not have enough money to rent an apartment.
In the neighborhood around her, some apartment buildings were reduced to a mass of concrete chunks and protruding metal. Residents use plastic to cover up smashed windows and rusty tin sheets to fill holes in the walls.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Israel would allow more materials in when it receives assurances that the goods will be used for civilian purposes, not by militants. But he said the "uncontrolled flow of cement and iron" into Gaza is "out of the question."
The U.N. has lobbied Israel for months to allow in building materials like cement to finish off some $80 million in U.N. construction projects. Gaylard said they repeatedly told Israeli officials that they would not allow Hamas to seize the materials. "We've given plenty of assurances," he said.