Senior Hamas leader Khaled Meshal, based in Damascus, released a statement blaming the White House for Gilad Shalit’s continued incarceration, explaining that a deal was in hand, but pressure on Israel from US President Barak Obama to reject a deal compelled Israel to do just that. Meshal stated a deal was in hand and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu retracted the deal at the last moment, accepting no responsibility for Shalit’s continued incarceration.

According to Meshal, America fears that such a deal would be a major boost for Hamas’ popularity, and result in another blow to the already weakened Fatah Party under the rule of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). Therefore, America instructed Israel to sacrifice Shalit for the sake of its master plan, to bolster Abu Mazen’s popularity and position.

Regarding the so-called Shalit Bill, intended to strip some of the privileges from Hamas terrorists in Israeli prisons, Hamas officials stated the move is definitely intended to increase pressure on them to cut a deal for Shalit’s release, but they warn it will have an adverse impact, resulting in Hamas making additional demands on Israel, not fewer.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)