JERUSALEM - Israel has categorically refused to release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a recording of an Israeli soldier seized by militants in Gaza in late June, a senior official told AFP Sunday. “This proposition is completely unacceptable,” the official said on condition of anonymity.| He should have ended his statement with words along the lines of, "Shalit alive or Haniyeh dead." |
The official told AFP that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected the proposal, saying that the recording “would add to the suffering of Gilad Shalit’s family.”
| Not to mention opening themselves to being nickel-and-dimed on the transfer. |
Shalit, 20, was seized on June 25 in a cross-border raid carried out by three Gaza militant groups, including the armed wing of Hamas. Egypt has been mediating between Israel and the Palestinians over the servicemanÂ’s release.