Zahar: Hamas will consider giving Schalit letter from family

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Hamas will consider giving captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit the letter delivered by his family to former US president Jimmy Carter, due to visit Gaza later Tuesday, top Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said. Zahar told Israel Radio on Tuesday that if Israel wanted to end the Schalit saga, it should free all the prisoners Hamas was demanding. Zahar said that Egypt was yet to invite the group to resume indirect talks over securing Schalit's release, adding that the previous negotiations were halted due to Israel's insistence on not freeing prisoners from east Jerusalem and the Arab-Israeli sector. He claimed Israel was not interested in reaching a prisoner swap deal, but rather wanted to get information on Schalit's whereabouts in order to try and free him in a military operation. Zahar criticized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's policy speech, saying that he set impossible conditions for the Palestinians - to give up on the right of return and Jerusalem.