Israel to keep Gaza blocked until soldier freed

Israel vowed on Tuesday to keep its blockade of Gaza Strip in place until Hamas agreed to free a captured Israeli soldier, following the failure of negotiations mediated by Egypt yesterday, a senior government official said Tuesday.

"There will be no expansion of the opening of the Gaza crossings until they release Gilad Shalit," the official said.

Shalit was captured in a 2006 cross-border operation by Gaza fighters, including members of the Islamist Hamas movement which has ruled the Palestinian enclave since June 2007.

"The crossings ... are operating at a minimum to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza," an Israeli political source added. "And they (the crossings) will remain so until Gilad Shalit is released."

Exchanging blame

Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected Hamas's terms for a prisoner swap, saying Israel would not cave in to demands by "a terrorist organization."

"We will not accept in any manner the conditions set by Hamas,” Olmert said of the proposed prisoner swap under which the Islamists would free Shalit in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Israel said it agreed to release 320 of 450 Palestinians Hamas wants freed, but claimed Hamas was being intransigent.

But Israel demanded that some prisoners be exiled, a condition Hamas's armed wing publicly rejected.

If the Israeli government sticks to its negative position, it will not be possible to clinch a deal, at least at the present time

Hamas official Osama Hamdan

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan urged Olmert to "listen to the voice of reason and come back to pursue the talks."

"If the Israeli government sticks to its negative position, it will not be possible to clinch a deal, at least at the present time," Hamdan said. "If Israel wants to reach a deal, it should come with a serious offer."

Olmert said there were red lines his government could not cross and that Israel has been “generous” to release the number of Palestinian prisoners it agreed to.

"We have been generous in our conditions and we will not free other prisoners than those we agreed to release," Olmert said at a news conference.

"Hamas's demands reached such proportions that in our assessment no Israeli government could accept," Israeli Justice Minister Daniel Friedman told reporters after Olmert met behind closed doors with his cabinet.

We have been generous in our conditions and we will not free other prisoners than those we agreed to release

Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert

Leaving doors open

Israel and Hamas left open the door to renew the negotiations.

But Israeli ministers and officials played down the chances of a breakthrough before Olmert hands over to right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu.

Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu's, who takes a harder line against Hamas, has an April 3 deadline to form a government following Israel's parliamentary election last month.

Olmert has made freedom for Shalit a precondition for a wider truce with Hamas and the opening of the coastal enclave's border crossings to reconstruction aid after Israel's military offensive earlier this year.

Israel has accused Hamas of hardening its stance in the negotiations. Hamas denies any change in its position.