Islamist militant group Hamas rejected on Thursday a list of 450 Palestinian prisoners, approved by a ministerial panel on Thursday, that Israel would be willing to release in exchange for the freedom of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit.
Shalit was abducted by Gaza militants in June 2006.
Hamas has demanded the staged release of 1,400 prisoners, including those who have carried out violent attacks against Israelis. The group said new recommendations made by the ministerial panel on Thursday failed to fulfill Hamas demands and therefore the Egyptian-brokered negotiations over Shalit cannot advance.
"No breakthrough can be achieved before the Zionist enemy agrees to all the conditions and all the names on the list we have handed over," said senior Hamas official Osama Al-Muzaini.
Approximately half of the prisoners included in the list were names submitted by Hamas. The ministerial panel that approved the list, headed by Vice Premier Haim Ramon, had previously authorized the release of 70 names from Hamas' list.
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