Israeli radio: Ramallah and Washington hinder the Shalit deal

Israeli radio: Ramallah and Washington hinder the Shalit deal

Israeli radio revealed on Saturday that the Palestinian Authority and Washington are hindering a prisoner exchange deal whereby Palestinian captives are released from Israeli occupation jails in exchange for the Palestinian resistance releasing Gilaad Shalit, fearing that such a deal would raise Hamas’s popularity amongst Palestinians.

The radio said that the PA in Ramallah is insisting on some Palestinian prisoners being released as a goodwill gesture to Abbas before concluding a prisoner-exchange deal with the resistance factions holding Shalit.

According the radio, the US administration is expecting that a prisoner-exchange deal is going to weaken the PA in Ramallah, thus Washington requested that a deal is not reached soon or on the terms of Hamas.

The radio also said that the German mediator is going to Gaza in the middle of next week to get Hamas’s response to the latest Israeli proposal for the exchange deal