Prisoners exchange deal dominates dailies

Wednesday’s issues of the three Palestinian Arabic newspapers focused on the prisoners exchange deal between the Israeli government and Hamas. Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported on its front page that the Israeli cabinet approved a prisoners swap agreement with Hamas that will release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, held since 2006, in exchange for releasing 1027 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons. Subtitles in the daily reported that senior Hamas officials such as Abdullah Barghouti, Ibrahim Hamed, Abbas Sayed and others will not be released, along with Ahmed Saadat, secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Fatah lawmaker Marwan Barghouti. President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the prisoners’ exchange deal and praised the role of Egyptian intelligence in communicating with both sides. Al-Ayyam featured tens of injuries among Palestinian protesters during an Israeli army’s attack on a demonstration, in front of Ofer Israeli prison on Tuesday, to support Palestinian prisoners that have been on an open hunger strike for 16 days. Al-Quds daily highlighted President Mahmoud Abbas’ visit to Venezuela during his South America tour to rally international support for the Palestinian application for statehood membership in the United Nations. The newspaper also reported that Abbas will meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris on Friday.