By Danny Rubinstein
"Some of the prisoners are better known than others. They are all considered heroes by the Palestinian public, who are waiting for their release. The Palestinian press published their names and other information. No doubt their release will be accompanied by large-scale celebrations in the West Bank and Gaza, perhaps unprecedented ones. One Palestinian spokesperson said that it would be the first time prisoners are exchanged as a result of actions executed within the occupied territories and not, as was always the case before, with the exchange of Palestinian prisoners being done with foreign elements.
And who will receive credit for such a grand victory? Khaled Meshal, of course. He is creating the tension - will he come to Cairo or not now? - and the appropriate atmosphere. It all depends on Meshal and his comrades in the Hamas leadership, who even speak of the prospect that they, leaders of the movement, will bring about the release of Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, and thus show Abu Mazen to be helpless and Fatah to be an empty vessel.
The Israeli government, obviously, does not want this to happen. Also the United States and other nations worldwide, including Arab nations, cannot afford such an impressive victory for the Islamic zealots of Hamas. This is the background, according to the Palestinians, for the IDF operations in Gaza.
Meshal and Hamas would indeed win much esteem for their success in releasing prisoners, whom no one else has been able to free before - but the Palestinian people will have a very high price to pay. The price of large-scale destruction and bloodshed, which will bring the Palestinian public to question: Was is it all worth it? This ploy was used by the Israeli government in Lebanon with Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah, and it worked out pretty well. Why shouldn't it work in Gaza? "
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