Israel, Hamas Discuss Kidnapped Soldier

Talks between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group about an Israeli soldier captured in 2006 have been renewed, an Israeli official said Sunday. Speaking on Israel's Army Radio, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said German mediator Gerhard Konrad was in Gaza along with Israeli authorities trying to forge a deal to release Gilad Schalit, the Jerusalem Post reported. Schalit was taken by Palestinian militants in a Gaza cross-border raid in 2006. Since then, various demands by Hamas for prisoner exchanges have repeatedly failed. Schalit holds dual Israeli/French citizenship and his parents have repeatedly sought help from the European Union in securing his release, the report said. However, after Netanyahu's remarks, Gilad's father, Noam Schalit told Army Radio he didn't believe any negotiations were happening. "We know only the opposite of what the prime minister confirmed," he said. "The delay on the issue continues and unfortunately the report is incorrect."