Netanyahu: Shalit swap up in the air

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried this week to temper expectations that a deal to free an Israeli soldier Sgt. Gilad Shalit was close, despite a rash of reports that serious progress has been made.

“There is no deal yet and there might not be one,” Netanyahu said Nov. 24.

A Hamas delegation was in Egypt that day meeting with the German official trying to finalize an agreement. Egyptian officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said a deal was close but was unlikely to be sealed in the next few days.

Shalit, captured in June 2006, is being held in Gaza by militants affiliated with the territory’s Iranian-backed Hamas rulers. The Egyptian officials said they were mediating between Israeli and Palestinian officials, who were now negotiating over the names of Palestinian prisoners to be released, and how many would be deported.

They said Hamas officials were insisting that two top imprisoned Palestinian leaders, Marwan Barghouti and Ahmed Saadat, be released. Israeli officials would not confirm any of the information, and Netanyahu warned of “distorted” reports in the media. — ap