Hamas and Israeli official agree: Shalit release not part of calm
PNN – An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Sunday that any agreement of ‘calm’ between Hamas and the Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip has nothing to do with the captured soldier.
Gilad Shalit was captured in June 2006 while invading the southern Gaza Strip. He is the only Israeli prisoner that the Palestinians have. The Israelis have some 11,000 Palestinians.
Hamas leader Mahmoud Az Zahaar said that the only way Shalit will be released is as part of a prisoner exchange, a position that Hamas has not faltered from for years.
The Israeli source said, “Considerable progress has been made in negotiations to reach a cease-fire agreement, the period of “calm,” but the release of Gilad Shalit will not be part of the agreement.”
He said that the results of the negotiations will be undertaken in two phases, if the negotiations turn out to be successful. “The first phase would include a cessation of violence between the two sides, and opening the Israeli crossings.”
It is not until the “second phase” that the Rafah border crossing might be opened and then, the Israeli hopes, Shalit will be discussed.
This leaves all control in the hands of the Israelis, who will still control all borders, with the only ones open leading directly into its boundaries. There will remain no access to the outside world.
Az Zahaar did say that the completion of this Egyptian mediated deal will be within two weeks, but reiterated that Shalit will not be involved even later, as the Israeli source hopes. Hamas is holding out for a real prisoner exchange.
And important of note, projectile launches and similar acts of the armed resistance are coming from every political party, faction and their armed resistance wings, from the Islamists to the leftists. The weapons of the Palestinian armed resistance are crude, generally homemade, and ineffectual. The Israeli forces have billions in support from the US and one of the most well-equipped military's in the world, therefore using the term "cease-fire" is misleading.
However, the Israelis continue to place the onus on Hamas for all acts of resistance, no matter how small, big or who claimed responsibility, which has been the case since the party won the last elections and the US and Israel immediately imposed a blockade.
So what a “cease-fire,” or “calm,” will actually mean when it is being negotiated only with Hamas officials, and as the Israelis are notorious for not honoring “cease-fires,” remains to be seen.
0 Have Your Say!:
Post a Comment