Captors of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who has been held hostage for two years said on Tuesday they will never give up or scale down their demands over freeing the captive.
"There are no choices before Israel but to accept the swap according to the conditions set by the factions that hold the soldier," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoom told reporters in Gaza.
Hamas and two allied groups that kidnapped the soldier in 2006 demand Israel release 1,000 Palestinians behind bars of Israeli jails in exchange for the soldier, while the Jewish state only agreed to free 71.
"Any playing or delaying with the conditions will go in vain," Barhoom said, adding that Egypt is still the mediator on this issue.
On Monday, deposed Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haneya said "the Palestinians will celebrate a honorable prisoner swap" like the swap last week between Israel and Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah.
The Egypt-mediated talks over the fate of Shalit has reached a deadlock as Hamas announced Wednesday that it halted the negotiations until Israel and Egypt open the closed Gaza Strip border crossings.
On Saturday, Haneya stressed that Hamas will not give in on "any issue" related to the release of Shalit.
Israel holds more than 11,000 prisoners in its jails and stages almost daily raids in the West Bank to arrest Palestinians who Israel says are wanted by its intelligence services.
Source:Xinhua
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