Israeli and Hamas officials on Monday were expected to meet in Cairo for a second round of indirect negotiations on a prisoner swap of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for Hamas prisoners held in Israeli jails, the London-based pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported Monday.
According to the report, the first round of talks between Israel and Hamas was launched in Cairo last week. The meeting failed to produce any results, prompting Egyptian mediators to push for a fresh round.
Ahmed Jabari, who is heading the Hamas delegation and is leader of Hamas's military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, reportedly held extensive talks with Egyptian officials ahead of his meeting with David Meidan, the new head of the Israeli negotiating delegation in the prisoner exchange talks.
The al-Hayat report said the Egyptian mediators were shuttling between the two sides, which have convened in separate rooms.
"We cannot talk yet about any breakthroughs in these negotiations," an Egyptian source told al-Hayat. The source expressed hope that both sides would "show flexibility" to make the deal. The source noted that Jabari had been authorized by Hamas's political bureau to move forward with the completion of the prisoner swap.
Another source familiar with the negotiations said, "Although it is too early to talk about progress, we cannot overlook the fact that there are positive signs." The source said both sides had a "real will to complete the deal soon."
Meanwhile, Hamas's political bureau deputy head Moussa Abu Marzouk told al-Hayat last week that internal pressure in Israel and the restructured Israeli negotiating team had real potential to lead to a final deal.
Marzouk said Hamas was interested in arranging a prisoner exchange, but that his organization's position on the terms of a deal had not changed.
Shalit was abducted by Hamas forces in June 2006 during a cross-border raid. He has been held captive in an unknown location in the Gaza Strip for the past five years.
Reservists protest Shalit captivity conditions
Dozens of reserve soldiers on Monday blocked a junction in the Sde Boker area in the Negev in an attempt to prevent the passage of a bus carrying Palestinian security prisoners' families, who were on their way to visit their relatives in prison, Israel Radio reported.
The reservists were protesting the fact that Palestinians are able to visit their relatives in Israeli jails, while Gilad Shalit continues to be held captive without anyone, including the Red Cross, having access to him.
According to Israeli media, protesters displayed signs stating, "Who is visiting Gilad?," "No visitation for Gilad – no visitation for you," and "Gilad wants to go home."
PA paying convicted terrorists monthly salaries
The Palestinian Authority allocates a chunk of its budget to provide salaries to security prisoners held in Israeli jails, according to a senior government official in Jerusalem.
According to a report cited by the official, the salaries are allocated under the heading "public services," and account for about 3.5 percent of the Palestinian Authority's budget. Funding for the authority stems from two main sources – the U.S. government, and "donor countries."
The salaries vary according to the length of a prisoner's sentence. Prisoners jailed for up to three years earn a total of NIS 1,400 ($400) per month, while prisoners sentenced to more than 20 years behind bars earn NIS 10,000 ($2,800) to NIS 12,000 ($3,400). Prisoners' spouses and children also receive regular financial aid from the authority, while prisoners holding Israeli identity cards receive monthly salaries plus additional stipends.
During the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Interior Minister Eli Yishai proposed freezing financial aid to the Palestinian Authority. "The Palestinians do not desire peace," Yishai said. "They do not want to engage in a diplomatic process ... They received everything from [former prime minister Ehud] Olmert and [Defense Minister Ehud] Barak, and still they reached no agreement. They are only headed toward unilateral steps."
"We must prepare for a worst case scenario in September," Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov, referring to expected disturbances following the authority's expected bid for statehood at the U.N. in late September. "There is a possibility that a protest movement will arise, yet not like ours, which is grass-roots and calm, but rather a deliberate and heated protest that may eventually also become an armed protest."
Abu Seesi negotiating plea bargain
Meanwhile, Dirar Abu Seesi, who is believed to be the mastermind behind both the Grad and Qassam rockets and Hamas's main missile engineer, is engaged in preliminary negotiations with Israel's Southern District Attorney's Office on the terms of a plea bargain.
According to the outlines of the plea bargain, Abu Seesi will confess to most of the charges leveled against him, while other charges will be dropped. He is expected to serve between 12 to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors reportedly prefer to reach a plea bargain in order to avoid lengthy proceedings in which sensitive information could be exposed.
