Israel and Hamas agreed on Tuesday to an extensive prisoner swap, freeing Israeli prisoner Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. Shalit's capture has been a topic of major controversy between Israel and Palestine, as it has gained nearly iconic value in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The mediations on the prisoner swap took place in Cairo, observed and mediated by Egyptian officials. It was agreed here that 1,027 Palestinians will be swopped in total for Israeli prisoner Shalit. 450 prisoners will be turned over to Palestinian Authorities in the first week of November, and the remaining will be given over later. Yesterday night it was reported by several news websites that Shalit had already arrived in Cairo. Meanwhile, the Palestinian news website Maan News reported today that the Egyptian Foreign Ministry refused to have transfered the Israeli prisoner over the Rafah crossing. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the prisoner swap deal from Cairo, as Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal thanked Egyptian officials for mediating the deal. Hamas, the PRC and the Army of Islam noted that “99 percent” of the factions' demands have been met by the agreement. Mashaal expressed great happiness over the agreement, but also regret that not all prisoners could be freed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted on Israeli television expressing his satisfaction with the deal, saying that “I've been waiting for the chance to make this telephone call” to inform Shalit's parents of the deal that frees their son. The wife of Marwan Barghouti, a charismatic activist seen as a future Palestinian leader, yesterday told Reuters in the West Bank that she was eagerly awaiting word that his name will be on the list of the swapped prisoners. But neither Bargouthi or PFLP leader Ahmad Saadat will be given over. This is sad news to Palestinian Prisoners Society, as the organization is concerned with the deteriorating health of hunger-striking Saadat. In earlier negotiations aimed at releasing Shalit, the names of both Barghouti and Saadat had often been raised. But as the deal turns out now, their names are not included. “Of course people are angry about it but they won't forfeit the whole exchange for that,” a Ramallah citizen commented to BikyaMasr.com. Former IDF Chief Rabbi Brigadier General (Res.) Avichai Ronsky, an Israeli rabbi, on Tuesday voiced his concern over the prisoner deal, saying that Israel should not have agreed to swap the young Israeli soldier in return for the Palestinians. “We know who the people being released are”, the rabbi said of the prisoners, “they are artists at these kinds of things, a second after their release they will be untraceable.” Thorough celebrations have been seen in Israel and the Palestinian Territories alike, each side welcoming their countrymen whom are yet to return. There are at least 6,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. In Palestine, they are regarded as heroes in their struggle against Israeli occupation and quest for statehood. Early reports late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning stated Shalit had been transferred to Egypt, but this cannot be confirmed and reports from Rafah say Egypt would not allow Palestinian prisoners into Gaza for the deal. BM
