The efforts to secure a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas are to proceed through two different channels in a last-gasp attempt to finalise the deal before a new right-wing government is formed in Israel.
Negotiations are taking place simultaneously in Cairo and Europe through joint mediation by the French and Qatari governments, both of which are eager to deepen their involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
The existence of a second channel was confirmed this week by a senior Hamas leader. Younis el-Astel said that a deal on exchanging hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, some of them convicted for the murder of Israelis, in return for the release of captured Israeli solider Gilad Shalit, had almost been agreed.
However, the French-Qatari talks were cancelled at the last moment after the intervention of the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority. The PA fears that a successful deal will increase support for Hamas among the Palestinian public.
