DESPITE INTENSIVE contacts between Israeli negotiators and Hamas representatives via Egyptian mediators over the last few days, the sides failed to agree on a prisoner swap under which Israel would have freed hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in return for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.
Sgt Shalit was seized by militants from Gaza in a cross-border raid in June 2006 and this weekend will spend his 1,000th day in captivity.
Outgoing Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert badly wanted to complete a prisoner swap before leaving office in the coming days.
Mr Olmert is being replaced by Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu who is expected to head a hawkish government that advocates toppling the Hamas regime in Gaza.
After being briefed by the two envoys who returned from the Cairo negotiations, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert blamed the failure of the talks on Hamas.
“During the negotiations, Hamas hardened its positions, retracted understandings reached during the last year and raised extreme demands, despite generous Israeli offers,” Mr Olmert said.
Hamas officials rejected the Israeli accusations, stating that a deal was still possible if Israel agreed to release the 450 detainees it demanded.
A statement on the Hamas military wing website said Israel agreed to free all the prisoners on the updated list and the only point of disagreement was Israel’s demand to deport some of the prisoners instead of allowing them to return to their West Bank homes.
After briefing the Israeli cabinet on the failure to achieve a breakthrough, Mr Olmert said in a live public broadcast that Israel made unprecedented concessions and agreed to release hundreds of terrorists, including those responsible for the murder of Israelis.
Unconfirmed reports said Israel had agreed to free 320 of the 450 demanded by Hamas, but whereas Israel insisted that more than a hundred be sent into exile, Hamas would only agree to less than 10.
Israeli officials had linked a prisoner swap to the easing of the blockade on Gaza, and it is unlikely that the crossings into Gaza will be opened as long as Sgt Shalit remains in captivity.
The kidnapped soldier’s father, Noam, who has spent the last 10 days in a protest camp opposite the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem, sent a letter to Mr Olmert yesterday holding him “responsible for the pact between the state and the Israel Defence Forces and for the family that sent its son to the army with the knowledge that he would not be abandoned.”
Reuters adds: Egyptian security forces yesterday blocked two Hamas officials from entering the Islamist-run Gaza Strip with night-vision goggles and around $900,000 in cash, security and customs sources said.
The Hamas officials were stopped at the Gaza border after customs agents found the cash – €500,000 and $250,000 – during a search of their bags as they headed home after taking part in Palestinian reconciliation talks in Cairo.