GAZA, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- A well-informed Islamic Hamas source announced Wednesday evening that the German mediator, who leads the indirect talks between Hamas and Israel over finalizing a prisoners' swap deal, has achieved new progress in the negotiation.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua in Gaza that the German mediator who mediates a prisoners' swap deal between Hamas and Israel succeeded in bridging some of the remaining gaps between the two sides to finalize the deal.
"The talks are now focusing only on six or seven names in the list of the prisoners that Hamas movement is demanding Israel to release as part of the deal," said the source.
The source revealed that the German mediator has met for the second time senior Islamic Hamas political and military leaders, adding that the German mediator handed Hamas new Israeli suggestions.
"These suggestions show that Israel expressed more flexible position concerning the mechanism of implementing the prisoners' swap deal and overcoming points of disagreement," said the source.
The source added that the efforts of German and Egyptian mediators had narrowed disagreement, adding that there is an ongoing progress towards finalizing the deal and implementing it soon.
"Both Israel and Hamas are offering unprecedented flexibility in their positions to finalize the deal and implement it as soon as possible," said the source.
The source also said that there is a "semi-final" agreement on the list of names of Palestinian prisoners from East Jerusalem and other prisoners holding the Israeli identity cards.
"This is considered a new breakthrough in the indirect negotiations and this is a real progress that was achieved by the German mediator," said the source, adding that the whole issue is still run under complete secrecy.
The source declined to reveal the names of the prisoners that will be included in the list of the prisoners that will be released as soon as captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is released from his captivity.
"We still need some more time to agree on the rest of the names in the list of the prisoners, mainly those with lengthy sentence terms whom Hamas insists should be released," said the source.
Israel and Hamas have postponed their talks to finalize the swap deal and release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners after the end of Eid al-Adha Holiday.
Editor: Du Xiaodan | Source: Xinhua