By IRNA,
Berlin : German-brokered talks between Israel and Palestine’s Islamic resistance movement Hamas on a prisoner exchange deal are on the verge of collapse, the weekly news magazine Der Spiegel reported Saturday.
The latest setback in the negotiations is mainly linked to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who refused to sign an initial German-mediated agreement between Hamas and Israel which was supposed to be signed before Christmas.
Instead, Netanyahu made a new “final offer,” rejecting most of the demands made by the Palestinian side.
Netanyahu was reportedly quoted as saying that concessions made originally by the
head of the Israeli negotiation team went too far.
The prisoner swap deal which is being brokered by Germany’s foreign secret service BND, is aimed at freeing a captive Israeli soldier for the release of some 1,000 Palestinians from Israeli jails.
German officials expect Hamas to dismiss the latest Israeli offer, leading to a breakdown of the lengthy negotiations.
The latest controversy has also damaged Germany’s reputation as a neutral mediator,
Der Spiegel said.
Hamas has repeatedly criticized that German negotiators were not neutral but in fact were more inclined to side with the Zionist regime.