ISRAEL HAS revealed for the first time that it is ready to release nearly 1,000 Palestinian prisoners to secure the freedom of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier held captive in Gaza.
The government said yesterday it was preparing for the possible release of 450 prisoners, whose names were proposed by Hamas, in the first stage of what would be Israel’s biggest prisoner swap in more than 20 years. Once Shalit, who was captured near Gaza in June 2006, was freed, then another 530 prisoners, whose names will be chosen by Israel, would be released.
Although the approximate figures have been known for several weeks, this was the first time the government has officially confirmed the size of the deal, and suggests real progress has been made towards a prisoner swap. Indirect negotiations have continued for months between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group which is holding Shalit in Gaza. Since July, German intelligence officers have been mediating in the talks.
The figures were contained in an Israeli government response to a high court petition brought by the families of Israeli victims of terrorist attacks who are opposed to the release of Palestinian prisoners. The announcement does not mean the deal has yet been reached – there are reportedly still disagreements over the names of prisoners to be freed and where they will go once they are released.
The Israeli government response has talked of the “possibility” of such a prisoner swap of 450 Palestinians “in principle” in return for Shalit’s freedom, and the list of names has not been finalised, according to the websites of the Ha’aretz and Yedioth Ahronoth newspapers last night.
The release of the prisoners was “being examined in detail in accordance with different considerations and based on rationales of security and values”, the government said.
“It should be stressed that contrary to the release of prisoners as part of a gesture and/or diplomatic agreement, this is an incident of bargaining, which can be seen as an ongoing terror attack, as part of which negotiations are being held to reach the lowest price possible as far as the state of Israel is concerned.”
Israel has already said that the cabinet will vote on any prisoner swap before it happens. In the past, the names of prisoners to be released are published 48 hours in advance to allow for legal challenges.
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be in Germany today with several members of his cabinet for a special joint government meeting, which suggests a Shalit deal may be days away at the earliest. Palestinian officials have said it may yet be several weeks before a deal happens, if it happens at all.
– (Guardian service)