Word: shalit
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...investigation by TIME reveals a marked contrast in how the Israelis and Hamas view their complicated on-again, off-again negotiations over Shalit's release. The disconnect arises partially out of Israel's refusal to deal directly with Hamas, which they consider a terrorist organization. While some informed Israelis say they are "optimistic" that Shalit will be free "within weeks," Hamas officials are far more cautious - one offered the glum assessment that bargaining could drag on for another year...
...Hamas official told TIME that last spring, the militants proposed a deal in which Israel would hand over 1,400 prisoners - at first, 300 Palestinians would be released, and in exchange Hamas would move Shalit from Gaza to Egypt. The Israeli soldier would then be turned over to the Israelis, and another 400 Palestinians would be freed. Seven month after Shalit is safely home, Israel would then free another 700 prisoners. Included in the list were 100 "must release" Palestinians, all convicted of terrorist acts against Israelis. Israel balked at letting loose prisoners "with blood on their hands," who might...
...impasse arises because both Israel and Hamas believe that they hold the stronger hand and don't want to compromise. As canny observers of Israeli politics, Hamas knows that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert could use the freeing of Shalit to boost his plummeting popularity. Meanwhile, the Israelis reckon that Hamas could capitalize on the exchange of hundreds of prisoners as a way to improve their support among Palestinians, and their international standing. Israel and Western government slapped an economic blockade on 1.5 million Gaza residents now living under Hamas' rule, and it would help Hamas' standing if these sanctions were...
...Israelis toughened their negotiating stance believing that with international sanctions squeezing Gaza, Hamas might be desperate to strike a deal. And Hamas has certainly exhibited a new willingness to bargain: exactly a year after Shalit's kidnapping, his captors released an audio tape of the soldier pleading for Olmert to do more to release...
Still, Hamas officials urge Israel to speak directly with them, since they were freely elected in the January 2006 Palestinian elections, and they now exercise control over Shalit's kidnappers in Gaza. "We are willing to talk directly to the Israelis," says one Hamas official. "So why are the Israelis play the ostrich with us? They're willing to talk with our men in jail but not to us directly...