By Xinhua,
Jerusalem : Israel has refused to release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for two soldiers kidnapped by the Lebanese organization Hezbollah, local daily Ha’aretz on Sunday quoted an official as saying.
Israel and Hezbollah have been negotiating a prisoner swap via German mediator Gerhard Konrad since two Israeli soldiers, Udi Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, were kidnapped in a cross-border raid on July 12, 2006, which ignited a 34-day military conflict between the Jewish state and Lebanon.
The Lebanese group has insisted that Israel release thousands of Palestinians as well as Lebanese prisoners in exchange for the two soldiers, a condition the official told Ha’aretz would strengthen the organization’s standing among the Palestinians and across the Arab world in a result Israel does not want to see.
Israel’s “final offer,” which the Israeli side has asked Konrad to convey to Hezbollah, is that in exchange for the two soldiers, or their bodies if they are dead, Israel will release Lebanese prisoners and return the bodies of Hezbollah members buried in Israel, without releasing any Palestinians, said the report.
“From Israel’s perspective, we have reached the outermost limits of the negotiations,” the official was quoted as saying. “The ball is now in Hezbollah’s court, and it must make a decision.”
The official added that if Hezbollah insists on including Palestinian prisoners, that will bring “an end to the negotiations, because there will no longer be anything to talk about.”
Nearly two years after the kidnapping, the Israeli side still does not know whether the two soldiers are still alive or not, as Hezbollah has consistently refused to provide any sign of life.