Israeli Set To Consider Hamas Prisoner Swap

Olmert is mounting a last-ditch effort to free captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit before leaving office.

Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will convene his security cabinet on Wednesday to consider a prisoner swap with Hamas that could lead to a truce in the Gaza Strip, officials said on Monday.

Olmert is mounting a last-ditch effort to free captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit before leaving office.

He has refused to accept an Egyptian-proposed ceasefire that would open the Gaza Strip's border crossings until the enclave's Islamist rulers release Shalit in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Olmert's security cabinet would discuss and possibly "authorise the parameters of a deal" on Wednesday.

"This is real. They are discussing and debating who will be released" in exchange for Shalit, a second official said.

Hamas warned on Monday that Olmert's brinkmanship over Shalit put broader ceasefire talks in jeopardy.

But senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera Television from Cairo, "We are ready ... to open the file of Gilad Shalit for negotiation."

"If they want him back at home as they say, they have to let the Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons go home too."

Hamas official Taher al-Nono said "a clear agreement" on a ceasefire had been reached until Olmert, over the weekend, insisted on Shalit being freed first.

"We stress our rejection of any Israeli blackmail," he said.

LEVERAGE

Israel believes last month's military offensive in the Gaza Strip increased its leverage over Hamas, increasing the chances of a breakthrough on Shalit, who was captured in a cross-border raid by Gaza militants in 2006.

The air, sea and land bombardment, which Israel launched with the declared aim of halting rocket attacks, killed more than 1,300 Palestinians, destroyed some 5,000 homes and decimated much of Gaza's infrastructure, local officials said.

If Gazans want to rebuild, they will need Israel and Egypt to open border crossings. Olmert has ruled out doing so until Shalit has been freed.

"When Gilad Shalit is here, we will discuss the rest. That's the priority list," Olmert said in comments broadcast on Israel Radio.

Hamas has demanded the release of 1,400 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit. Israel has repeatedly recovered both captured hostages and remains of slain soldiers from its conscript army through massively lopsided swaps.

Western diplomats said Olmert was likely to free closer to 1,000, including some Hamas militants involved in deadly attacks against Israelis.

Before carrying out a swap with Hamas, Israel was considering freeing Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouthi to bolster Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction, Hamas's main rival for power.

"We are thinking about these issues," a third Israeli official said, referring to efforts to bolster Fatah by releasing Barghouthi.

Israel is also considering giving Abbas's government greater authority in some parts of the occupied West Bank, where his government is based.

Last week's inconclusive election in Israel has triggered what may be a protracted battle over who will form the next government, giving Olmert a few weeks to manoeuvre.

Israel believes that Hamas wants to close the deal before a more hardline government, possibly led by rightist Benjamin Netanyahu, takes office.

"Timing is a factor here because Olmert wants to leave behind a clean slate and Netanyahu has an interest in taking office without the Shalit case hanging over him," a senior Israeli official said.