Jerusalem: Palestinian outfit Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has claimed to have foiled a secret attempt by Israeli authorities to free kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, by using Palestinian `collaborators’ who had earlier served for the rival Fatah faction-led Palestinian Authority (PA).
Commander of Hamas` internal security service, Abu Abdullah, last evening announced that his men had detained a cell of former Palestinian security officers on suspicion that they had been involved in an attempt to gather information on the whereabouts of the abducted Israeli soldier, currently in the outfit`s custody.
Abdullah told the `Palestine Times` website that the `collaborators` had been in touch with Israel.
"We arrested members of a cell made up of a number of collaborators, who rented a home and vehicles on the east side of the southern Gaza Strip," he said.
"They planned to kidnap a senior member of Hamas` military wing, Izz a-Din a-Qassam Brigades, in order to hand him over to the Israeli side as part of their efforts to find Shalit," the Hamas commander said.
Abdullah claimed that Israel`s internal security service, Shin Bet, was continuing with its efforts to gather information on the soldier`s whereabouts despite talks of a prisoner exchange under Egyptian and German mediation.
"Even the war (in December-January) was part of the effort to find out his location and try to get to him," he said. "The cell`s scheme was foiled at the last minute. They had a ready plan for action and it was very similar to the kidnapping of Muhawesh al-Kadi," Abdullah said, referring to a senior Hamas official, who was said to have been involved in Shalit`s capture and was reportedly kidnapped by the Israel Defence Forces near his home in Rafah more than a year ago.
Meanwhile, Hamas spokesmen yesterday issued contradictory statements about the outcome of the movement`s discussions in Syria over an Israeli response to a prisoner exchange deal conveyed through the German mediator.
Some of them announced that Hamas has rejected the latest Israeli offer to deport about 130 prisoners slated for release, while others said that no final decision has been made yet.
Mohammed Nasser, a senior Hamas political figure, said that consultations in the movement would continue about the prospects of striking a deal, but did not give additional details.
The faction`s spokesman in Gaza, Fawzi Barhoum, said that it was premature to talk about a final Hamas decision on this matter.
"Hamas is continuing to study the Israeli response," he said adding, "The discussions and deliberations have not ended yet."
PTI
