Israel Matzav

'New deal' for Shalit looks too much like old deal

The Jerusalem Post is reporting that Hamas has offered a 'new deal' to release kidnapped IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit, who has been held captive by 'Palestinian' groups since June 25. Unfortunately, the 'new deal' looks too much like the old deal, and I would be shocked to see Israel even discuss it:

Gilad Shalit's kidnappers are demanding the release of Tanzim leader Marwan Bargouti, PFLP head Ahmad Sa'adat, the killers of former Minister Rehavam Ze'evi, and other senior terrorists with blood on their hands, the east Jerusalem daily Al-Quds reported Sunday.

The demands were conveyed to Israel through a third party, according to Israel Radio.

The three terrorist groups holding Shalit refused Israel's request for a recent photo of Shalit or a written message from him to be sent to his family.

Despite the ambiguity of the statements made by Hamas and other Palestinian factions, and the wide gap between their demands and those of Israel, the Palestinians' expression of willingness to negotiate may be a ray of light in the six-week-old kidnapping crisis.

Over the weekend, however, Hamas again rejected requests by the Red Cross for a meeting with Gilad Shalit. A senior Hamas official, Osama al-Mazini, said the talks on Shalit were not making progress and that Hamas had rejected an Egyptian offer to transfer Shalit to Egyptian custody in exchange for guarantees for the release of Palestinian prisoners at a later date.

I'm amazed that they still haven't figured out where he is in Gaza after this long. Israel's intelligence capability in Gaza still has a lot more left than its intelligence capability in Lebanon.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:05 PM