In the aftermath of Wednesday's prisoner swap between Israel and Hizbullah, there are increasing calls in Hamas to replace the Egyptian mediators with German intermediaries in the talks on abducted IDF soldier St.-Sgt. Gilad Schalit.
Several Hamas officials have been quoted over the past 24 hours as expressing deep disappointment with the way the Egyptians have been handling the Schalit mediation effort. "The Egyptians have proved that they are unable to put enough pressure on Israel to accept our demands," one Hamas official reportedly said. Another Hamas official said his movement was under the impression that the Egyptians "were on Israel's side more than on our side." |