Khaled Mashaal, the Damascus-based political bureau chief of Hamas, is expected to arrive in Cairo on Tuesday to begin a third round of indirect talks with Israel on a prisoner swap that would free abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, according to a report in the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayat. The report follows another report published Monday in Al-Hayat about Israeli and Hamas officials convening in Cairo for indirect negotiations through Egyptian mediators. The first round of talks was launched in Cairo last week, but that meeting failed to produce any results, according to the daily. Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari was said to be representing Hamas in the negotiations, while David Meidan, the new Israeli negotiator handling the Shalit talks, was representing the Israeli team. Egyptian intelligence officials have been mediating between the two sides. Shalit was abducted by Hamas operatives in a June 2006 cross-border raid. He has been held captive in an unknown location in the Gaza Strip for the past five years. Hamas is demanding that Israel free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit, including some described by Israeli officials as having "blood on their hands." According to Tuesday's Al-Hayat report, Israeli negotiators have agreed to make some concessions, including over such issues as freeing jailed Israeli Arabs and East Jerusalem residents as part of the deal. Israel has also reportedly agreed to deport fewer Palestinian prisoners released in the exchange. Sources quoted in the report said negotiators have reached an agreement over the number of prisoners to be deported from the West Bank after their release. However, other Hamas officials have been quoted elsewhere as saying that progress has not been made in the negotiations and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unwilling to pay the necessary price to finalize the deal. Netanyahu has previously said that Israel agreed to a proposal from a German official who had been mediating a prisoner exchange. The disagreement between Israel and Hamas revolves mainly around the number of prisoners Israel wants to deport and the release of high-profile prisoners such as Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences for his involvement in terror attacks against Israelis. Meanwhile, Egyptian Ambassador to Israel Yasser Rida said Tuesday that there were no new developments in the case of Ilan Grapel, the Israeli-American being held in Egypt on suspicion of spying for Israel. Grapel has been jailed in Egypt for more than two months. He is said to be in good health and his rights are not being violated, according to the envoy. Rida said that Grapel's case was being handled by the justice system, and that he trusted it would handle the matter fairly.
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שיתוף כתבה
Report: Hamas chief Mashaal expected in Cairo for Shalit talks
Al-Hayat says Israeli and Hamas officials in Cairo for indirect talks on prisoner exchange • Arabic-language daily says Israel has made concessions on list of prisoners to be freed and number to be deported after release • Other officials deny progress.