Negotiations aimed at securing the release of a captive Israeli soldier have reached an impasse, senior Palestinian officials said on Saturday after Israel rejected new militant demands.
GAZA CITY: Negotiations aimed at securing the release of a captive Israeli soldier have reached an impasse, senior Palestinian officials said on Saturday after Israel rejected new militant demands.
"The coming hours will be sensitive and dangerous. Efforts continue but until now no satisfactory solution has been reached," Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas said in a statement.
"The situation is dangerous and we can say that things are stalled. Israel does not want to free any prisoner, which is the main claim of the groups holding the soldier," an official from his office also said.
A second official close to the negotiations confirmed that the mediation was stalled.
"Our efforts to release the soldier have reached a dead end," a source close to the negotiations said on condition of anonymity.
"We could not do any more to release him because there are too many demands interfering with our efforts," the source said. "Until now there is no hope. Hamas political leaders told us we could not do anymore."
The three Palestinian militant groups that abducted 19-year-old Gilad Shalit on June 25 -- including the armed wing of Hamas -- issued a statement demanding Israel free 1,000 "Palestinian, Arab and Muslim" prisoners.
Stopping short of formally endorsing the demands of the militants, the governing Hamas movement backed the principle of an exchange of prisoners.
"The solution is a prisoner swap, like what happened with Hezbollah," Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri said. In 2004, Israel released 429 Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners in exchange for the return of three corpses and the release of one Israeli. "We demand that pressure be exerted for Israel to heed the calls of the mediators, who want to solve this crisis through a prisoner swap between the two sides," deputy parliament speaker Ahmed Bahar told reporters on Saturday.
The moderate Abbas, who has been overshadowed by Hamas since the Islamist movement's government took office in March, is deeply involved in the negotiations and has the support of the international community.
"After a whole week of intensive contacts with all the Palestinian and Arab parties, notably Egypt, President Abu Mazen (Abbas), is pursuing his efforts to bring the Israeli aggression to an end," a statement from his office said.
Israel launched a massive military offensive against the Gaza Strip, which it evacuated nine months ago, in retaliation for the abduction and in a bid to free the soldier.
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