A senior Hamas official said on Wednesday that his movement expects "positive developments" in efforts to achieve a prisoner swap with Israel in return for IDF soldier Gilad Schalit.
Musa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of the Damascus-based Hamas "political bureau," said that his optimism was based on "internal pressure" on the Israeli government and changes in the makeup of the mediating team.
Abu Marzouk's remarks were published in the London-based
Al-Hayat newspaper.