Official: prisoners' swap deal depends on Israel's response

Gaza Strip Hamas strong man Mahmoud al-Zahar said on Tuesday that the ball is at the Israeli court on finalizing a prisoners' swap deal with his movement.

Hamas is holding in its captivity the Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit since June 2006. It accused Israel of refusing the demands of the captors to free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from its jails for Shalit's release.

The Israeli Radio, Arabic service, quoted al-Zahar as saying that Israel "shouldn't wait for Hamas movement's response concerning its proposals to finalize the deal."

Al-Zahar's statement were made in response to earlier statements of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who said earlier on Tuesday that Israel hasn't yet received Hamas answer to the Israeli proposals.

Netanyahu expressed Israel's readiness to free Palestinians " with blood on their hands" in reference to Palestinians who carried out deadly armed attacks and were involved in killing Israelis.

"Netanyahu is not telling the truth, Hamas response to the latest proposals were sent through the German mediator before the Israeli security cabinet was held and deciding to withdraw from the reached understandings," said al-Zahar.

Hamas and two other minor armed groups kidnapped Shalit in June 2006 during a cross-border attack southeast of the Gaza Strip. Shalit's captors want Israel to release more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for Shalit's release.

Al-Zahar said on Monday that the indirect talks sponsored by Egypt and Germany to free Shalit and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners "were absurd" and can't continue amid the Israeli withdrawal from previous understandings.

Since December, the German mediator and Egypt had failed to finalize the prisoners' swap deal between Hamas and Israel due to the two sides' differences.

Source: Xinhua