Gaza Hails Anniversary of Prisoner Swap Deal
Hundreds of Hamas fighters kicked off celebrations in Gaza on Thursday to mark one year since Israel began freeing 1,027 prisoners in exchange for the release of one soldier.
In the first event of a day of celebrations, hundreds of armed and masked fighters from the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the ruling Hamas movement, marched through the city in a big show of force, an AFP correspondent said.
The snatching of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006 by a group of Hamas fighters and others sparked a more than five-year crisis for Israel, which finally ended on October 18, 2011.
As Shalit walked free, Israel released 477 Palestinian prisoners in the first step of a two-stage operation that eventually saw more than a thousand go free, including hundreds who were serving life sentences for anti-Israeli attacks.
A spokesman for the radical Popular Resistance Committees also hailed the anniversary, vowing to snatch more soldiers in order to free Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails.
"The way to free our prisoners will happen through kidnapping more Zionist soldiers. The resistance will not stand paralyzed over this commitment," PRC spokesman Abu Mujahed said in a statement sent to AFP.
"All Palestinian resistance factions are seeking to repeat the deal and capture a new Shalit. The way is clear now," he said.
Last year's Egyptian-brokered deal won plaudits for Hamas from the Palestinian public, but the Islamist movement also came under fire for accepting Israel's conditions over who would be included in the swap -- a move which the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said would not happen again.
"No future exchange will take place without the release of those whom the enemy refused to free during the deal," Brigades' spokesman Abu Obeida told reporters.
"The release of the prisoners is a top priority for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades," he said.
Among prisoners whom Israel refused to free are influential Palestinian leader Marwan Barghuti, jailed for his role in the second intifada, and Ahmad Saadat, head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who is serving time for heading a "terrorist organization."
Israel also conditioned its acceptance of the deal on Hamas's agreement that around 200 of the prisoners from the West Bank and east Jerusalem accept to be exiled to Gaza or abroad.
As part of the celebrations, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades was expected to release a video documenting the operation in which it captured Shalit in a deadly cross-border raid on June 25, 2006.
Hamas is also planning a public celebration in Gaza City, which is due to start around 1330 GMT.
Source: Agence France Presse
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