Hamas Sees Progress in Talks for Release of Gilad Shalit

By Jack Khoury (Haaretz) August 10, 2011

Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk believes that internal pressure in Israel and changes in the composition of the Israeli negotiating team will lead to positive movement toward reaching a prisoner exchange deal that will include the release of captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

In an interview with the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper, Abu Marzouk, the deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau, said that Islamic movement is interested in completing a prisoner exchange agreement but emphasized that Hamas’ position on the terms of a deal have not changed.

According to the Al-Hayat report, the head of Hamas’ military wing Ahmed al-Jabari left Cairo on Monday and returned to the Gaza Strip after a visit during which he met with Abu Marzouk and Egyptian intelligence officials responsible for mediating the Shalit deal.

For more, go to Haaretz.com

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO