The Gilad Shalit Deal

Ismail Haniyeh cancels his Hajj

Evan Hill | November 25, 2009 3:01 PM | 0 | recommend (0) |   |      

The Jerusalem Post reports that Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip, has canceled his trip to Mecca for the Hajj pilgrimage, raising hopes that a prisoner swap deal for captured Israel Defense Forces Corporal Gilad Shalit is going to happen soon.

Anticipation that hundreds of Palestinian prisoners might soon be released in a deal with Israel was so high in Gaza that Haniyeh had been asked to remain in the Gaza Strip to greet the prisoners, said a Hamas legislator in Gaza City.

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Categories: Israel & Palestine, Politics

Tags: Gaza, Gilad Shalit, Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, Israel, Israel Defense Forces, prisoner exchange

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What's happening with the Shalit deal?

Hosni Mubarak insists that Shalit is alive and well and coming home soon. And Hamas insists again that most members of Hamas -- let alone Mubarak -- have no idea what's happening with Shalit.

What's happening with the Shalit deal?, ctd.

Al-Jazeera tries to figure out why Hamas is being coy about Gilad Shalit's condition. The network suggests the public statements are a feint -- that there's real behind-the-scenes progress on freeing Shalit.

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Gregg Carlstrom | July 6, 2010 4:00 AM | 0 | recommend (0)
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivering a statement in Jerusalem on July 1, 2010. (Photo: AFP)
US president Barack Obama will use a White House meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push for an extended West Bank settlement freeze. If Netanyahu doesn't offer one - and the domestic politics are quite difficult for him - it's hard to see any possibility of direct talks with the Palestinian Authority later this year.

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Gregg Carlstrom | June 24, 2010 6:09 AM | 1 | recommend (0)
Gen. David Petraeus testifying on Capitol Hill. (Photo: Reuters)
The president's decision to nominate Gen. David Petraeus as the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan won't mean a major change in strategy. But there are mounting reasons for pessimism about current policy, particularly the relentless focus on southern Afghanistan. The deployment of tens of thousands of additional troops to Kandahar and Helmand serves few NATO objectives.

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A demonstration in London against the Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound flotilla. (Photo: AFP)
It has accelerated Israel's isolation from several of its neighbors and allies; it has sharpened divisions within Turkish domestic politics; it has deepened perceptions that the Obama administration as too close to Israel. And it seems to have had a remarkably minor impact on Palestinian domestic politics.

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