Israel May Swap Prisoners for Soldier

Israel might be prepared to swap hundreds of jailed Palestinians for Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who has been held in captivity in the Gaza Strip for more than two years, senior Israeli officials indicated yesterday.

Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, said yesterday that the Israel Defence Forces' operation in the Gaza Strip had created "renewed momentum" to strike a deal with Hamas for Shalit's return.

Hamas officials in Gaza and the West Bank insisted, for their part, that Shalit, who was captured in a cross-border raid, "would not see the light of day" unless Israel agreed to the release of up to 1,400 Palestinian prisoners.

Shalit has become a cause célèbre in Israel. Little information is known about his condition and there have been unconfirmed reports that he had been injured at the beginning of Israel's assault on Gaza.

Hamas's demands have emerged amid claims that members of the Israeli cabinet had "softened" in their resistance to a deal that would release a large number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails in exchange for Shalit's return.

Hamas's list includes a number of long-serving, high-profile figures, including Marwan Barghouti, the jailed Fatah leader, as well as Ahmad Sadat, who was imprisoned for his part in the assassination of an Israeli cabinet minister, Rehavim Ze'evi.

Speculation about a prisoner swap has been driven by comments by Ze'evi's widow, Yael, who said she would not insist on Sadat remaining in prison if it led to the release of Shalit.

The prime minister said yesterday: "The operation created a number of levers that can aid in the expedition of [Shalit's] return. I will not add to this, because this will not benefit his return. After Gilad returns home, it will be possible to tell the whole story."

Israel's foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, who is hoping to replace Olmert in February's elections, has also linked the full lifting of the economic blockade on Gaza to Shalit's release. "If there is something that Hamas wants from Israel, we have one person that we want in return: Gilad Shalit. It is impossible to separate the issues, and it is impossible to advance any other issue before we work towards what is really important to us, the release of Gilad Shalit."

Livni's linkage of the border crossing to Shalit came as the Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported that cabinet ministers who had so far resisted a more widespread release than Israel had been prepared to contemplate might now be prepared to cut a deal.

An Israeli security official said: "There is a sense that we can afford to relax our criteria on the prisoner release, as any benefit to Hamas would be more than offset by the damage it sustained in Gaza."

However, a Hamas spokesman on the West Bank, who is in touch with the leadership in Gaza, said: "Shalit will not see the light of day unless an honorable prisoner exchange takes place."

Yazid Khader mentioned Marwan Barghouti and Sadat and other "long-serving prisoners".

Abu Mujahed, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, added: "The Israelis are wrong if they think the war will help them pressure us on Shalit. Our demands have not changed: the entire list of prisoners we demanded, and in addition, launching talks on lifting the siege."

Analysts believe that Olmert may view the release of Shalit in the last few days of his premiership as an opportunity to repair a badly tarnished legacy that has been dogged by allegations of corruption and poor leadership.

The effective renewal of negotiations for Shalit's release emerged as tensions between Hamas and its political rival Fatah appeared to be deepening over the issue of who would be responsible for the reconstruction of Gaza.

A senior Hamas official dismissed on Thursday any reconciliation talks with Fatah, saying that Arab and international donations to Gaza should exclusively go to the beleaguered coastal strip's rulers.

In Gaza the UN's humanitarian chief, John Holmes, warned that the UN might ask Israel to compensate it for wartime damage to its compounds in Gaza.