Israel drags feet on names of 51 Palestinian prisoners, Hamas reaffirms

A senior official of Gaza-based Palestinian government Hamas Monday said the remaining differences between Zionist regime and Hamas on finalizing a prisoner swap are related to releasing of 51 Palestinian prisoners.

The official said that Zionist regime rejects to release 51 prisoners out of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners Hamas has asked Zionist regime to release.

"Israel refuses to release seven prisoners from Gaza, 14 prisoners from the West bank and 30 prisoners from East 'Jerusalem' (al-Quds) and Israel," said the official.

For example, Zionist regime rejects to release Abdullah al-Barghouti, the leader of al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas armed wing in the West Bank, he said, adding that the German mediator proposed to send him to exile out of the Palestinian territories.

The official also said Hamas is clinging to its demands and would never change its mind about the list of the prisoners' names.

Meanwhile, another source closed to the talks, who declined to reveal his name, said Hamas is demanding for international guarantees that Zionist regime will not carry out any retaliatory attack after Shalit is released.

Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli Radio reported that the Israeli attorney general told the Israeli high court of justice that Israel will release 980 Palestinian prisoners from its jails in exchange for Shalit, adding that the prisoners will be freed on two stages.

Once Hamas accepts the deal to free Shalit, the Israeli trooper would be transferred to Egypt through Gaza-Egypt Rafah border crossing. He would be taken for medical checkups before Egypt hands him to Israel.