Hamas: Palestinians to be part of Hizbullah swap
Source: Compiled by Daily Star, 07-12-2007
Palestinian prisoners will be included in any future prisoner exchange deal between "Israel" and Hizbullah, a Lebanon-based Hamas official said Wednesday. "Everyone knows that many efforts are currently invested in achieving a prisoner swap. We believe that the Palestinian prisoners will be on the exchange list," Osama Hamdan was quoted by the Lebanese national news agency as saying following a meeting with Hizbullah's top official in South Lebanon, Sheikh Nabil Qaouk.
"Israeli" Army reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were captured by Hizbullah fighters in a cross-border raid on July 12, 2006. "Israel" used the incident as a pretext to launch the 34-day summer war.
Hamdan said he hoped that "Israel" will release a large number of prisoners in exchange for Goldwasser and Regev, in order to demonstrate the fact that "only resistance can yield successes and not other means."
In addition to Hamdan, representatives from Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian militant organizations were also present at the meeting in on Wednesday. They stressed their opposition to relinquishing the Palestinian refugees' right of return, and warned that the recent Middle East peace conference, held in Annapolis, Maryland, could lead to such a concession.
Meanwhile, Karnit Goldwasser, the wife of abducted soldier Ehud Goldwasser, told "Israeli" media on Wednesday that if Hizbullah's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, is demanding the release of Lebanese prisoners held in "Israeli" jails, "Israel" must release anyone necessary in order to secure the freedom of the captured soldiers.
"The price 'Israel' will have to pay for not getting the soldiers released will be higher than the price 'Israel' will have to pay in order to achieve their release," Goldwasser said during a Hanukkah ceremony in Latrun. "Soldiers will be afraid to take risks if they know that ['Israel'] won't do everything for them."
Palestinian prisoners will be included in any future prisoner exchange deal between "Israel" and Hizbullah, a Lebanon-based Hamas official said Wednesday. "Everyone knows that many efforts are currently invested in achieving a prisoner swap. We believe that the Palestinian prisoners will be on the exchange list," Osama Hamdan was quoted by the Lebanese national news agency as saying following a meeting with Hizbullah's top official in South Lebanon, Sheikh Nabil Qaouk.
"Israeli" Army reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were captured by Hizbullah fighters in a cross-border raid on July 12, 2006. "Israel" used the incident as a pretext to launch the 34-day summer war.
Hamdan said he hoped that "Israel" will release a large number of prisoners in exchange for Goldwasser and Regev, in order to demonstrate the fact that "only resistance can yield successes and not other means."
In addition to Hamdan, representatives from Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian militant organizations were also present at the meeting in on Wednesday. They stressed their opposition to relinquishing the Palestinian refugees' right of return, and warned that the recent Middle East peace conference, held in Annapolis, Maryland, could lead to such a concession.
Meanwhile, Karnit Goldwasser, the wife of abducted soldier Ehud Goldwasser, told "Israeli" media on Wednesday that if Hizbullah's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, is demanding the release of Lebanese prisoners held in "Israeli" jails, "Israel" must release anyone necessary in order to secure the freedom of the captured soldiers.
"The price 'Israel' will have to pay for not getting the soldiers released will be higher than the price 'Israel' will have to pay in order to achieve their release," Goldwasser said during a Hanukkah ceremony in Latrun. "Soldiers will be afraid to take risks if they know that ['Israel'] won't do everything for them."
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