Hamas officials on Wednesday clarified details around the prisoner swap deal that would see the releasing of Israeli prisoner Gilad Shalit in return for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. It is now clear that a number of the Palestinians to be released in return for Shalit will not be able to return home. Out of the 450 Palestinian prisoners to be released on Tuesday, some 272 will be allowed to return to their homes in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jerusalem and Israel. But the remaining 178 are likely to be deported to third countries or the Gaza Strip, if they are not from the area. This was hard news for families waiting for their relatives to return home after years in prison to hear. Shalit, already anticipated by the Israeli public, will arrive home soon early next week, it was reported by Israeli media and confirmed by Israeli Justice Ministry. The names of the 1,027 Palestinian prisoners will be released on Sunday, giving the Israeli public 48 hours to raise any legal challenges to their release. The prisoner swap deal has prompted concern with Palestinian prisoners rights groups, as they fear that the Shalit swap will undermine support for the hunger striking Palestininan prisoners. A number of Palestinian prisoners have been on a hunger strike in Israeli jails since the September 27 pushing for prisoners' rights and better conditions. Israeli jails have repeatedly been criticized for disrespecting human rights. Prisoners have been forced into prolonged solitary confinements, prolonged administrative detentions, family visits have been limited and they have been obligated to meet lawyers wearing handcuffs. The Palestinian Center for Prisoner's Studies (PCPS) on Wednesday stressed the importance of the steadfastness of the support for the hunger strikers. Rafat Hamdouneh, director of the PCPS, said solidarity with prisoners on hunger strike would have to remain strong “in these hard times” and called on all Palestinians to support them “until the prisoners' claim victory over their jailers and obtain all their rights.” Hamdouneh said the Israeli prisons administration was “still ignoring the demands of the prisoners and continuing to harass, punish, and penalize them, as well as transfer striking prisoners and isolate their leaders.” But Saleh Al-Aroury, in charge of the Detainees File at the Hamas Movement, told Al-Quds TV station on Wednesday that the Egyptian mediated prisoner-swap deal reached with Israel, “also includes the implementation of all demands set by the detainees held by Israel.” Al-Aroury, who was among the Hamas team negotiating the swap deal, stated that “not a single detainee will remain in solitary confinement, families will be able to visit their interned loved ones, and all of their problems, God willing, will be resolved,” the Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Information Center, reported. Al-Aroury also stated that “it is unfortunate that a number of senior resistance leaders will not be released”, but added, “it is not possible for a single deal to achieve the release of everyone.” Had the deal insisted in the top figures, the deal would have failed, he argued. BM
