Israel, Hamas Finally Clinch Prisoner Swap Deal

"However, the secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Ahmed Saadat, will remain in prison, as well as Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti." I Guess there is Veto from Abbas, Israeli, the USA, and the Egyption Military Council on releasing Marwan Barghouti. As far as Ahmed Saadat is concerned, Israel is committing the same mistake, they refused to release Samir Qintar, and paid a high price for that.

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The Zionist entity and Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas have agreed a prisoner swap deal, five years after the abduction of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Israel and Hamas agreed the release of Shalit in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian detainees. For the Israeli part, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet voted early on Wednesday to approve the accord. "We have concluded arduous negotiations with Hamas to release Gilad Shalit. He will be coming home in the next few days," Netanyahu announced following the cabinet session. "I believe we reached the best possible agreement at this time," Netanyahu added. "It is very possible that this window of opportunity that has been created at this time... would have closed once and for all, and we wouldn't have been able to bring Gilad back at all." Twenty-six ministers voted in favor of the deal, and three ministers - Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau of Yisrael Beiteinu and Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya’alon of Likud - voted against the proposal. AGREEMENT FRAMEWORK According to the agreement framework, the swap deal will be at two stages. At first, the release of 450 Palestinian prisoners, including 280 with life sentences will take place. 110 prisoners will be released to their homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, out of whom 55 are Hamas men, with the rest belonging to Fatah and the other Palestinian groups. According to the deal, 131 Gaza residents will be released back to the coastal Strip. Another 203 prisoners will be expelled from the West Bank, 40 of whom will be deported overseas and the rest to Gaza. In addition, 6 prisoners from the 48-territorries who have been serving for many years will also be released to their homes. The deal also specifies the release of 27 female inmates: Ahlam Tamimi and Amna Muna will be deported, with the rest of the female inmates are expected to be released to their homes. The second wave of releases will take place in two months time, at which point Israel will release 550 prisoners of its choosing. However, the secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Ahmed Saadat, will remain in prison, as well as Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti. MESHAL CONFIRMS ACCORD On the other hand, Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Meshal confirmed on Tuesday the prisoner exchange deal. In a televised speech, Meshal said the deal was mediated by Egypt and would see more than 1,000 Palestinian detainees freed in exchange for Shalit. "Hamas and Israel have reached an agreement under which 1,027 Palestinians, of whom 27 are women, will be freed in two phases," he said at a news conference broadcast on Arabic-language news channels. He said the first phase of the deal would see 450 prisoners freed "in one week," with another 5 50 Palestinians to be freed "in two months".

Source: Agencies

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