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Israel to keep pressure on Gaza after talks stall
Tue Mar 17, 2009 4:12pm EDT
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By Allyn Fisher-Ilan
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel vowed on Tuesday to keep its blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in place until Hamas agreed to free a captured Israeli soldier in stalled negotiations mediated by Egypt.
The talks hit an impasse over Israel's refusal to free all 450 long-serving Palestinian prisoners sought by Hamas in exchange for soldier Gilad Shalit, seized by Palestinian militants who tunneled into Israel from the Gaza Strip in 2006.
Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had agreed to free more than 320 of the 450 prisoners on the Hamas list, Israeli political sources said.
But Olmert balked at releasing those who orchestrated the deadliest bus and cafe bombings that have killed scores of Israelis since the outbreak of a Palestinian uprising in 2000, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Hamas's demands reached such proportions that in our assessment no Israeli government could accept," Israeli Justice Minister Daniel Friedman told reporters after Olmert met behind closed doors with his cabinet.
Israel and Hamas left open the door to renew the negotiations.
But Israeli ministers and officials played down the chances of a breakthrough before Olmert hands over to right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu, who takes a harder line against Hamas, has an April 3 deadline to form a government following Israel's parliamentary election last month.
Olmert has made freedom for Shalit a precondition for a wider truce with Hamas and the opening of the coastal enclave's border crossings to reconstruction aid after Israel's military offensive earlier this year.
"The crossings ... are operating at a minimum to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza," an Israeli political source said. "And they (the crossings) will remain so until Gilad Shalit is released."
Israel has accused Hamas of hardening its stance in the negotiations. Hamas denies any change in its position.
In exchange for Shalit, Hamas has demanded the release of 1,400 Palestinian prisoners, including about 450 long-term inmates. Israel has about 11,000 Palestinians in its jails.
In addition to balking at freeing roughly 130 prisoners on Hamas's list, Israel demanded that some prisoners be exiled, a condition Hamas's armed wing publicly rejected.
Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan urged Olmert to "listen to the voice of reason and come back to pursue the talks."
"If the Israeli government sticks to its negative position, it will not be possible to clinch a deal, at least at the present time," Hamdan said. "If Israel wants to reach a deal, it should come with a serious offer." Continued...
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