An Israeli ministerial committee on Sunday approved a draft bill seeking to toughen conditions under which Hamas prisoners are held in response to the stalemate over kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.
“The ministerial committee on legislation has approved the proposed law which would deny benefits and certain conditions for Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails,” the committee said in a statement.
The aim of the draft bill is to give the government a way to pressure Hamas into accepting a prisoner exchange agreement under which Shalit would be released, the statement said.
WARNING
But Hamas warned it would not buckle to pressure.
“If the enemy is betting that these unjust measures will put pressure on the factions to change their positions on the [prisoner] exchange it is mistaken, and we say this policy can only lead to disappointment and failure,” prisoner affairs minister in the Hamas-run government, Mohammed al-Ghul said in a statement.
Should it come into force, the law — dubbed “the Shalit law” — would impose harsh restrictions on the conditions under which prisoners from the Islamist movement are held — curbing lawyers’ visits and even those by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
RESTRICTIONS
It would also restrict their access to newspapers, television and study opportunities and allow for unlimited time in solitary confinement.
Before coming into force, the draft bill would have to pass through a lengthy process, starting with a preliminary reading before the plenum which is due to take place tomorrow.
It would then have to pass three readings in the Knesset — or parliament — before becoming law.
All 11 ministers on the committee voted unanimously in favor of the move, Israel’s Army Radio reported.
Shalit, now 23, was captured in June 2006 by Hamas and two smaller armed groups in a deadly cross-border raid and is believed to be held in a secret location somewhere in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
RELEASE
Israel is reportedly prepared to release around 450 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit, who also holds French citizenship.
However, negotiations for a possible exchange hit a dead end in December last year, when Israel presented an offer through a German mediator to which Hamas has yet to officially respond. Each side has blamed the other over the stalled talks.
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