Possible Prisoner Exchange

With the mediation of a German intelligence official, talks are under way to secure a deal to release IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Ha'aretz reports that Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshal will fly to Cairo next week to discuss the deal.

Ma'ariv quotes Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official in Damascus as saying "We trust the German mediator."

Hamdan noted that the German mediation team numbered between three to five people.  The German team, he said, had shuttled between the Hamas leaderships and Israel in order to bring the deal to a close.  "The German mediator inspires confidence in Hamas," Hamdan said, "they have a lot of experience in these matters, particularly in light of the role that they played in the past between Hizbullah and Israel."

Hamdan stated that Hamas had posed "national criteria" for the deal and assembled a list of prisoners that was not linked to organizational affiliation.  Hamas put women, children and sick people on the list, as well as prisoners who were serving long sentences.  He said that the number of prisoners on the list stood was about 1,000.

The Hamas leaders in Gaza also spoke optimistically yesterday.  Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya said: "Our people will rejoice.  There will be joy in every Palestinian home.  This is our commitment to Allah, towards our prisoners and their families."  Hamas spokesman in Gaza Ayman Taha added: "There is serious movement on the issue."

Ronen Bergman in Yedioth Ahronoth said that the prisoner exchange negotiations were one of the main issues Prime Minister Netanyahu discussed yesterday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Meanwhile, the two countries are making unprecedented efforts to prevent information leaks from these negotiations, both in Israel, by means of the military censorship, and in Germany, mainly with regard to the identity of the secret mediator.

Officials in Israel and in the Palestinian Authority are examining the proposals for resolving the crisis and the way in which the prisoners will be released.  The German mediator has held meetings in Lebanon, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Damascus.  Informed sources in Berlin estimate that it will take a few months to resolve the matter.

However, some sources in Berlin believe that it would be possible to reach an accord earlier, if Prime Minister Netanyahu does not link the release with much broader issues, such as the settlement freeze, reaching understandings with the Americans, opening the crossings and more.