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Israel Won't Release Hamas Terror Masterminds in Exchange for Captured Soldier
[Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs] At an Israeli Cabinet meeting Tuesday, security officials made clear that in the Egyptian-mediated negotiations for the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, Hamas did not show flexibility and reneged on written understandings. According to the security officials' assessments, if Israel had released all of the murderers that Hamas was demanding, this would have caused severe damage to national security, including the rehabilitation of terrorist infrastructures and the return of senior terrorist "engineers," who had planned and put into operation the most murderous terrorist attacks that the State of Israel has ever known. This would have also dealt a mortal blow to pragmatic elements in the region, whereas the extremists would have been significantly strengthened.