Four hundred and seventy-seven terrorists were released on Tuesday from Israeli prisons in exchange for Gilad Shalit. Most of them will return to their homes and the bosom of their families, while a few of them have been temporarily exiled in the Gaza Strip until the rage passes. Hamas is headquartered in Syria, and the organization's close ties with Damascus are well known. Bashar Assad has a golden opportunity to divert the spotlight away from the bloody current events in his country to Israel and the Palestinians by hosting exiled terrorists. Aiding Hamas is, therefore, clearly in Syria's interest. Hamas, meanwhile, is considering cutting off relations with Damascus due to pressure from Islamic movements that identify with anti-Assad insurgents. Recently, there have been more and more reports that Hamas plans to move its headquarters to Qatar, with which it has enjoyed warm ties for many years. Qatar is also an important ally of the U.S. in the Persian Gulf, and has in the past also made efforts to maintain a close connection to Israel. But in an effort to have it both ways, and also to position itself as a regional player, Qatar has for years played a double game in which it cozies up both to the U.S. and to the radical axis in the Middle East. Hosting exiled terrorists in Qatar is, therefore, naturally in line with this policy. Finally, there is Turkey, where exiled terrorists can enjoy the famous "all-inclusive" deal at precisely the time when Israelis have abandoned that country's tourists sites. Turkey's willingness to absorb terrorist murderers is not a humanitarian gesture meant to facilitate the implementation of the Shalit deal. It is part of a systematic and ongoing policy anchored in the current Turkish government's approach, which views Hamas as a sister movement and natural ally. The role that Turkey is playing in this deal affords it the status of an important regional player -- something it has long sought. Israel hopes that the exiled terrorists will not return to its territory. This depends on the goodwill of Turkey, Syria and Qatar. We have already learned in the past the degree to which we cannot count on such goodwill. All that is left is Egypt, the patron of the Shalit deal. We can assume that the current Egyptian government will maintain its commitment to agreements with Israel. No one, not even the Egyptians themselves, knows what will happen in that country after elections in a few months. We can, therefore, unfortunately assume that the exiled terrorists are likely to find their way, one way or another, sooner or later, back to Gaza.
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