Israel ready to free 1000 prisoners in Shalit deal

[Behind the Aegis]

Israel is expecting that progress will be achieved on the negotiations for the release of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit as a result of the meeting between Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and exiled Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshal, in Damascus on Monday. The two Hamas leaders were expected to have reached an agreement on the deal that is being negotiated for the release of Shalit in exchange for the freeing of many Palestinian prisoners.

Israel informed Egypt's intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, of its willingness to release prisoners, during meetings the Egyptian mediator held in Israel last week, a senior source in Jerusalem said Monday.

"We agreed to release several hundred women and children, mostly the young among them," the Israeli source said. "We have also agreed to release several hundred Palestinian prisoners, among them prisoners sentenced to many years in prison," he added.

The senior Israeli source said that the total number of prisoners that Israel would be willing to release "revolves around one thousand. We have made the figure clear to Egypt and they know our stance. The prisoners will be released in a number of stages, women and children during the first stage.


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