GAZA CITY: Hamas yesterday suspended talks over a prisoner swap deal involving Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, told reporters that Hamas had always maintained that the cease-fire deal reached with Israel, and the issue of an exchange of prisoners are two different issues and each should be dealt with separately.
He said Egypt would arrange separate indirect talks between his movement and Israel to discuss Shalit’s case but only after Israel committed to the terms of the cease-fire deal, including opening the Gaza crossing points. Shalit was captured in the summer of 2006 during a cross-border operation carried out by three Palestinian groups including Hamas. Two other soldiers were killed in the operation.
Israel later imposed economic sanctions on the Gaza Strip and sealed off the coastal strip a year later when Hamas seized the whole enclave and ousted Fatah forces.
On Thursday, Osama Al-Muzini, a Hamas leader, said that talks to release Shalit would not start unless Israel fully committed itself to a Gaza cease-fire. He added that in the next two days, Hamas would assess Israel’s commitment to the cease-fire by the number of consignments it allowed into Gaza.
“We have forced the enemy to accept our demands, but if the Israelis insist on not accepting them, we can hold on to Shalit for 20 years and never grow weary,” Al-Muzini said.
“Israel’s stubbornness on this issue will backfire and encourage resistance groups to kidnap more soldiers,” he added.
