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JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that Israel will not accept Hamas’ demand to release prisoners in exchange for a soldier held nearly three years in Gaza.
Olmert addressed his nation on TV after his Cabinet heard a report about failed indirect talks in Cairo between Israel and Hamas about a prisoner exchange. Olmert said Israel would not agree to add names to the list of prisoners it was prepared to release to win freedom for the soldier, Sgt. Gilad Schalit, 22.
Israel is holding an estimated 8,000 Palestinian prisoners in its jails, and Hamas wants some 1,200 freed.
