Abbas congratulates Hamas on Shalit prisoner exchange deal
In October 2011, the Israeli government agreed to release 1,027 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prison in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held hostage by Hamas for more than 5 years.
Headline: "Mashaal and Haniyeh inform [PA] President [Abbas] of details of exchange deal"
"[PA] President Mahmoud Abbas received a telephone call yesterday from the head of the Hamas political bureau, Khaled Mashaal, informing him of the outline of the prisoner exchange deal. During the conversation the President and Mashaal exchanged congratulations over the release of the prisoners of freedom who were included in the deal. The President received another call from Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, updating him concerning the outline of the deal…
The President repeated his congratulations over the conclusion of the deal and said, 'I applaud the conclusion of the long-awaited agreement.' He expressed hope that all the prisoners would be released from the Israeli prisons, and expressed appreciation for the efforts of Egypt, which participated in achieving the agreement."
Note: Hundreds of the released prisoners were convicted on charges of murder and terror offenses.
Headline: "Mashaal and Haniyeh inform [PA] President [Abbas] of details of exchange deal"
"[PA] President Mahmoud Abbas received a telephone call yesterday from the head of the Hamas political bureau, Khaled Mashaal, informing him of the outline of the prisoner exchange deal. During the conversation the President and Mashaal exchanged congratulations over the release of the prisoners of freedom who were included in the deal. The President received another call from Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, updating him concerning the outline of the deal…
The President repeated his congratulations over the conclusion of the deal and said, 'I applaud the conclusion of the long-awaited agreement.' He expressed hope that all the prisoners would be released from the Israeli prisons, and expressed appreciation for the efforts of Egypt, which participated in achieving the agreement."
Note: Hundreds of the released prisoners were convicted on charges of murder and terror offenses.