Hamas explains why Shalit talks failed.

Evidently, Hamas had previously agreed to the expulsion.

Hamas: Expulsion demand foiled talks

Mar. 18, 2009
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

Israel's insistence that 90 of the released Palestinian prisoners be expelled from the West Bank and Gaza Strip and 30 more moved to the West Bank was the reason why negotiations to free kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Schalit failed, Hamas's military commander Ahmed Ja'abri told the London-based Arab daily Al-Hayat.

"So long as Israel doesn't consent to Hamas's conditions, I have no problem holding on to Schalit for another full year," Ja'abri was quoted as saying in a report published on Wednesday.

Ja'abri is believed to be one of the few Hamas operatives to know the whereabouts of the kidnapped soldier. He is also considered by many in Israel to be more extreme in his demands, which led some officials in Jerusalem to point to his sudden arrival at the negotiations in Cairo as the reason for the collapse of the talks.

While the Hamas commander clearly placed the blame for the current status of the talks on Israel, he went on to say that the negotiations were not over, and that he was willing to continue contacts even after Prime Minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu takes office.

"I don't discern between [Prime Minister Ehud Olmert] and Netanyahu," he said. "What matters to us is that our demands are met."

The paper further quoted other Hamas officials as accusing Israel of employing pressure tactics in order to force the Islamic group into giving up the soldier.

"[Olmert] is trying to pressurize Hamas by saying that if a deal is not achieved, the matter will be moved into the hands of a right-wing Netanyahu government," the paper quoted the officials as saying.

On Tuesday, the government decided during a special three-hour cabinet session that a new committee of ministers would be charged with brainstorming ways to impose additional "sanctions" on Hamas in order to force the group to be more flexible in negotiations for the release of Schalit.

According to reports, methods to be considered by the committee would include bringing the treatment of Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails more in line with the treatment currently being received by the kidnapped soldier. Such a change would most likely put an end to family visits, which are currently permitted.

Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann has been appointed the chairman of the committee, which is expected to submit its recommendations on Sunday during the next cabinet meeting.