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Breaking News: Shalit to be Released in Exchange for 450 Terrorists
The German magazine "Der Spiegel" reports that the German negotiator has given Hamas an ultimatum: Give us an answer in two days.
According to the report, the German mediator has demanded a final answer from the Hamas within two days. The magazine also reported that this is only the first phase of the deal, and that after Shalit is released more terrorists being held in Israeli will be set free. However, the magazine also noted that the second phase of releasing Palestinian prisoners will be implemented as a humanitarian gesture, and not as an official part of the Shalit deal.
In another report, the Palestinian paper, "al-Manar" published on Saturday that the deal between Israel and the Hamas is complete, but that it is waiting for the Israeli government's final approval.
On Friday, the London-based Arabic language newspaper "al-Hayat" reported significant progress between the two parties, and that at the beginning of this week Hamas leader Khaled Meshal will travel to Egypt to discuss and hopefully approve the deal. Reports from Egypt indicate that the German mediator has been intensely involved in the negotiations during the last two weeks, and has made significant progress towards finalizing the deal. Meetings are being held in Cairo and Switzerland, with both Israeli and Hamas officials, including Mahmoud al-Zahar and Ahmad Jabri.
It was reported earlier this week that al-Zahar and Jabri went together to Damascus to the main headquarters of Hamas, in order to update Khaled Meshal on the latest details of the deal to release Gilad Shalit. A Lebanese internet site reported, on the basis of information received from a European source, that the deal for Shalit's release will be implemented before the Jewish holidays.