Hamas says hopes for deal to free Israeli soldier
Hamas’s leader in Gaza said on Wednesday he hoped the release of BBC journalist Alan Johnston by kidnappers may set a precedent for a deal with Israel to free a soldier seized a year ago. “As the case of Alan Johnston has ended, we hope that the case of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit may end too in an honourable deal that would secure the release of our hero prisoners from Israeli jails,” Ismail Haniyeh told a news conference, sitting alongside the freed BBC correspondent. Full Story