JERUSALEM — Hamas leaders raced to Egypt on Monday amid signs of progress on a deal to swap hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for a captive Israeli soldier held by the Islamic militant group for more than three years.
The exchange could boost Hamas at the expense of its key rival, Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in part because one of the prisoners to be freed is Marwan Barghouti, his main challenger.
Officials on both sides cautioned against exaggerated optimism that a deal is about to be concluded. Even so, conditions for a deal appear to be ripening on both sides.
Israel and Hamas have been locked in on-again, off-again talks since Gaza militants tunneled into Israel and captured Sgt. Gilad Schalit in a 2006 raid that killed two other soldiers. Until recently, the Egyptian-mediated talks had made little progress.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is eager for a breakthrough. Bringing Schalit home would give him a huge domestic boost and provide an important diplomatic victory at a time when much of the international community is criticizing him for not doing enough to promote peace.
Israel’s ceremonial president, Shimon Peres, confirmed progress in the talks after meeting with Egypt’s president Sunday in Cairo.
Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, is also hungry for progress. Exchanging Schalit for hundreds of prisoners would provide a swift popularity boost for the militant group among Palestinians, who see the imprisonment of thousands of their countrymen in Israeli jails as one of their main grievances against Israel.
A Palestinian familiar with the talks said Israel was preparing to release some 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in the swap. The Palestinian, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the prisoners would be released in two stages.
The initial batch of 450 people is expected to include many serving lengthy sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis. Among them would be Barghouti, a popular leader of Hamas rival Fatah, who is serving five consecutive life terms for his role in shooting attacks that killed four Israelis and a Greek monk.
