GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Palestinian and Israeli authorities are saying that they have reached an agreement that will free anywhere from 450 to more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israel in exchange for the freedom of soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held for five years. The swap will reportedly take place next week, the Israeli government confirmed to the country’s media Tuesday 11 October, but the number of prisoners involved varies depending on the source, with Hamas talking about more than 1,000.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, Haaretz, Jerusalem Post
French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie had shoes and eggs thrown at her car when she crossed from Jerusalem to the Gaza Strip, and protestors held up posters of family and friends in Israeli prisons. The border-crossing incidents took place after the minister met with the father of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier, who also has French nationality, now held in captivity for five years. She made remarks to the young man’s father that his son should be allowed Red Cross visits, but when the father told reporters that not permitting the visits is a war crime, some media attributed the remarks to the minister. Le Monde reports that she was booed because of “a misunderstanding”.
Links to other sites: BBC, Jerusalem Post, Le Monde (Fr)
Settlement-building in the occupied West Bank will be halted for 10 months, but not in East Jerusalem, and the construction of schools, synagogues and community centres will continue as part of its “natural growth” doctrine, the government of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced 26 November. The news was welcomed by former US Senator George Mitchell, the US special envoy for the Middle East, who called it “significant.” President Barack Obama’s administration has urged Israel to respect its commitments under the 2003 roadmap to peace in the Middle East.
Palestine’s chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, dismissed the Israeli move as “mere propaganda” and said that it had more to do with appeasing the USA than making peace with the Palestinians.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, Jerusalem Post, New York Times, US State Department briefing
The UN General Assembly has approved 114 to 18, with 44 abstentions, the controversial Goldstone report into atrocities in the Gaza war in the winter of 2008/09, and recommended that the Security Council act if both Israel and the Palestinians had not conducted their own investigations within three months. CNN, New York Times
Honduras‘ former President Manuel Zelaya says the agreement reached one week ago that would have led to a power-sharing government and his reinstatement as president is dead, after the two sides failed to agree on the government by Thursday, 5 November. The Supreme Court still needs to make a recommendation to the Honduran Congress on whether Zelaya may complete his term. Al-Jazeera, BBC
Morgan Tsvangirai says he will end his three-week boycott of the Zimbabwean unity government “effective immediately”, and has given Robert Mugabe 30 days in which to implement his side of the bargain that led to the deal. Tsvangirai walked out after Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party began to harrass Tsvangirai’s MDC party members. Al-Jazeera, BBC, The Guardian
Hamas and Israeli troops were fighting after Israeli ground troops entered the Gaza Strip on the eighth day of fighting in the area. Reuters
