BICOM

German government spokesman, Stefan Seibbert confirmed yesterday that the government of Israel had accepted a German-mediated deal for the freeing of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit in return for the freeing of an undisclosed number of imprisoned Palestinian terrorists. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had made a statement on Sunday asserting this, and saying that the deal did not go through because Hamas rejected its terms. Hamas dismissed this claim, accusing Netanyahu of lying. Seibbert yesterday also confirmed that Hamas had ‘regrettably’ refused the German mediated proposal. No details of the proposal are yet available.

Last weekend, Israel marked five years since Shalit’s capture with various public events and demonstrations calling for his release.