Israel Matzav

Hamas raises the price for Shalit

Emboldened by the denoument of the war in Lebanon, Hamas has raised the price for the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

Said Khalil al-Hayeh, head of Hamas's parliamentary list, "Israel must pay a heavy price for its soldier. We have rejected demands to release the soldier in return for promises that Israel would release our prisoners sometime in the future."

Hayeh also said Hamas was "disturbed" by pressure on the kidnappers to release Shalit unconditionally: "To all those who are exerting pressure on us, we say: Enough! No Palestinian will ever agree to the release of the Israeli soldier without getting anything in return. They know what our conditions are and I don't think that they are hard to fulfill."

The price - according to the Jerusalem Post - is the release of thousands of 'Palestinian' prisoners terrorists.

A PA official told the Jerusalem Post:

"Haniyeh wants to resolve the case by tomorrow .... His problem is that he has no control over the kidnappers and their patrons in Syria and Iran."

Haniyeh, according to another PA official, is also facing opposition inside Hamas over the formation of a national unity government with Fatah. "There are many people in Hamas who simply don't like the idea," he said. "Most of these people are sitting in Damascus and Tehran."

Bashar Assad seems to be doing everything possible to take himself out of the political process. And Comrade Peretz wants to negotiate with him?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:43 PM