Israel and Hamas Fail to Reach Agreement on Prisoner Swap

Israel and Hamas failed to reach an agreement on a prisoner swap on Tuesday, further prolonging the captivity for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who has been held since June 2006 following a cross border raid carried out by Palestinian militants.

The two sides reportedly held indirect talks in Cairo but according to Israeli ministers Hamas had upped its demands to a degree that made a deal impossible.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had been pushing for Shalit’s release, a promise he made when he took office. Olmert is now in his final days of office and with Benjamin Netanyahu in position to become the new PM the likelihood of Shalit being freed has practically vanished. Netanyahu favors a more hard-line approach to Hamas and is not in favor of negotiating with the militant group.

Egypt had stepped in to help broker a deal between that would have freed several hundred Palestinians currently held by Israel in exchange for Shalit. A deal appeared to be in place but according to Olmert “We will not agree to the release of additional prisoners from Hamas's list above and beyond the hundreds that we have already agreed upon and informed Hamas about.”

Click here for more World News

About YourFINDit

YourFindit Community is a business, music and social networking community. YourFINDit provides members with a wealth of applications that enable them to create an in depth profile within YourFindit. Profiles include an About Me, Background and Lifestyle, Videos, Photo sharing, News, Music, Blogs, unique URL and networking with other members inside the YourFINDit community. YourFindit provides ADit to each member providing them the opportunity to have an exclusive profile (no outside advertising) displaying only banner ads they upload to their pages. Members can run their own ads or give or sell their ad space to advertisers at prices the member sets.

To create your profile sign up and within minutes you too can have your People profile running your ads and building your network with new members daily.

YourFindit is owned and operated by TransWorldNews, Inc. a news and press release distribution service.