Potential Implications of the Hamas-Israel Exchange

Often, a prisoner exchange is an early step in de-escalating a severe, protracted conflict.  It is a mutual recognition of the adversaries’ concerns and a way of easing them, a way to build trust and confidence among them, and sometimes a pathway to more comprehensive  peacebuilding agreements. The question is whether this will prove to be the case with the agreement between Hamas and the Israeli government to release a little more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners, held in Israel, in exchange for the release of the Israeli Staff-Sgt. Gilad Shalit, seized and held in captivity by Hamas.

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