Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak will head to Egypt on Tuesday for talks with Egyptian leaders, local daily Jerusalem Post reported Sunday on its website.
Renewing negotiations for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip in June 2006 and is believed to be alive, will be at the focus of talks Barak will hold in Egypt's Alexandria with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Israeli defense officials said Saturday that Egyptian-mediated talks with Hamas for Shalit's release had been frozen since the prisoner swap Israel conducted with Hezbollah in July in which the bodies of abducted Israeli reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser were retrieved.
According to the officials, Hamas toughened its demands after Israel released Samir Kuntar, who was jailed in Israel since 1979 for murdering three Israeli family members and a police officer, along with four Hezbollah fighters and some 200 bodies in exchange for the two dead Israeli soldiers.
"Hamas now wants Israel to pay more," an Israeli defense official was quoted by Jerusalem Post as saying, adding that as a result, the talks have yet to really begin.
Last week, Egyptian officials had told Israel that they hoped to complete the swap by the end of this year.
Barak will also discuss other issues with Mubarak, Egyptian Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman and Defense Minister Muhammad Tantawi, including the fragile ceasefire in Gaza and Egypt's increased efforts to curb weapon smuggling from Sinai under the Philadelphi Corridor into Gaza, said the report.
Tantawi is in charge of military efforts to stop the smuggling. Last week, Egyptian police claimed to have discovered half-a-ton of explosives on its way to be smuggled into Gaza.
Barak will also update Mubarak and Suleiman on the work being done by the Israeli ministerial committee to ease restrictions on which Palestinian security detainees could be released, including in a swap for Shalit, according to Jerusalem Post.
The committee - made up of Minister-without-Portfolio Ami Ayalon, Vice Premier Haim Ramon and Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann - has made some progress in easing the criteria for the release of prisoners, an Israeli official said.
Source:Xinhua
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