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Corporal Gilad Shalit
Corporal Gilad Shalit. Photograph: AP
Corporal Gilad Shalit. Photograph: AP

No Gaza deal until soldier's release, says Olmert

This article is more than 15 years old
Outgoing Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert says militants must release soldier Gilad Shalit before truce can be reached

Israel will not sign off on a Gaza ceasefire without the release of an Israel soldier held in the Hamas-controlled territory, the outgoing Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said today, squashing speculation that a deal might be imminent.

Egypt has been mediating indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas for the past month, since Israel halted a fierce three-week offensive against Hamas targets in Gaza. Under an emerging deal, Israel would gradually ease its border blockade of Gaza in exchange for a halt to weapons smuggling and attacks by Gaza militants.

In parallel, Egypt brokered talks on a prisoner swap involving hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel and the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was seized by Hamas-allied militants in June 2006.

Progress has been reported in those negotiations, with the remaining dispute apparently focusing on several prisoners involved in particularly bloody attacks on Israelis. Hamas had been seeking to separate the truce deal from the prisoner swap.

A statement from Olmert's office said today: "The position of the prime minister is that Israel will not reach any understandings regarding the calm [ceasefire] before the release of Gilad Shalit."

In Gaza, Hamas officials reported new hurdles. The organisation wants a ceasefire for 18 months, with the possibility of extending it. A Hamas spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum, and the Hamas legislator Salah Bardawil said Israel had renewed demands for an open-ended ceasefire.

Barhoum said Hamas drafted its final version of a truce deal and presented it to Egypt. "Israel returned [it] to ask for an open-ended calm without a ceiling," he said, adding that Egypt was trying to bridge the gap.

Egypt is involved in a third set of complex negotiations. Starting 22 February, it will host reconciliation talks between Hamas and the rival Fatah movement, led by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas wrested control of Gaza from forces loyal to Abbas in June 2007. In response, Abbas fired the Hamas-led government and set up a rival administration in the West Bank.

Hamas and Fatah officials have held preparatory talks in Cairo in recent days. Both sides reported a positive atmosphere and said they talked about the fate of political activists held by Hamas in Gaza and by Fatah in the West Bank.

A Fatah negotiator, Nabil Shaath, said the two sides agreed to halt all verbal attacks and solve the prisoner issue. Asked whether prisoners would be released, Shaath said: "Yes, I think we will start before the 22nd." Barhoum said Hamas prisoners held in the West Bank must be freed in coming days.

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