Word: shalit
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...flowing into Gaza, since technically the strip won't be under Hamas' control. In practice, of course, Hamas will help decide how the money is spent. But lifting the Israeli blockade - along with doing more to stop the smuggling of rockets into Gaza and returning kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit - is crucial to getting a real, long-term cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Once Gaza's reconstruction begins, Hamas will have an incentive not to provoke Israel and blow up the entire process. The happier Palestinians are with what they have, the harder it will be for Hamas...
Olmert, who faces possible corruption charges when he steps down and is blamed by Israelis for having led the country into inconclusive wars in Lebanon and Gaza, wants to end his term on a positive note. Shalit's release would do that. However, though the Egyptian-brokered talks are top secret, Hamas is said to be exacting a high toll for Shalit's freedom. Press reports say the Islamists are demanding that Israel release 1,400 prisoners in three stages, including "several dozen" serving life senteces for multiple killings. This pains Israel because it means that terrorists "with blood...
...Diskin, to Cairo for indirect talks with Hamas, which may be hung up on details of an exchange. Those talks were extended until Monday night, raising the expectation that Hamas might agree to free the captive soldier, who is hidden somewhere in Gaza. "It's been very tough," Noam Shalit told TIME. "But we can't give up. I have no alternative but to be here, in this tent." But as of Tuesday morning, the envoys had returned from the Cairo talks without a deal on Shalit's release. Diskin and the other negotiator, Ofer Dekel, are due to brief...
...Hamas commanders in Gaza are more pragmatic. Several press reports had Hamas' military commander, Ahmed Jabri, whose men hold Shalit, joining the Cairo talks. The Gaza leaders believe Shalit's release could speed up the opening of the border-crossings into Gaza, allowing in materials to rebuild the enclave. Also, confided one Hamas official, "We're getting tired of holding Shalit. The Israeis haven't stopped trying to release him by force...
...cabinet. If there is an eventual deal, the cabinet may then vote on whether Israel should agree to Hamas terms' for a prisoner exchange. It will be Olmert's last chance to redeem his scandal-ridden tenure as Prime Minister. And like a shadow - or a guilty conscience - Noam Shalit will leave his tent and follow Olmert to his office. There, Shalit will take up a position on a wooded hill across from the Premier's window to remind Olmert that, above politics and all else, it is the life of his son that hangs in the balance. On Tuesday...