BICOM

Some Palestinians have criticised Hamas for failing to secure the release of top Palestinian political leaders and for conceding too much in the prisoner swap deal, where kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit will be exchanged for more than a thousand Palestinian inmates. Much of the criticism has come from Fatah officials. However, the criticism echoes wider opinion that the price Palestinians paid for Shalit’s capture was too high. Critics of the deal are also disappointed that some of the most prominent prisoners will not be released and that hundreds may be deported or not allowed to return to their homes. “The deal was a blow to our hopes,” said Issa Karake, a Palestinian official in the Fatah-controlled West Bank responsible for prisoners. “The Palestinian people paid a heavy price … for Shalit’s captivity. They should have insisted,” he said, echoing calls by other Palestinian prisoner activists. 

Bearing in mind that Hamas has secured one of the most unequal prisoner exchange deals in Israel’s history, Palestinian criticism is somewhat surprising. Nevertheless, Hamas as part of the deal did not secure the release of top Palestinian political leaders, convicted of masterminding deadly attacks. They include Marwan Barghouti, a leader of the rival Fatah group, who could run for the Palestinian presidency if released, and Ahmad Saadat, the leader of the small but influential Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. It also includes some of Hamas’s own leaders such as Abdullah Barghouti, a bomb maker who is responsible for the deaths of more than 60 Israelis. Top Hamas leader, Mahmoud Zahar said they haggled name-by-name with Israeli officials. “With some, we managed to overcome the obstacles. But with others we couldn’t,” he said on Egyptian television.

In the Egyptian-mediated deal, Hamas will exchange Gilad Shalit for 1,027 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons in two phases. In the short term, Hamas will most likely receive a political boost from the deal. However, to mitigate against, this the majority of those freed by Israel in the second phase, where 550 prisoners will be released in two months, will be Fatah members, according to AFP.