27/05/2008 In a surprise move, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met late Monday night with a senior Hamas delegation in his office in Ramallah. The meeting focused on efforts to achieve a cease-fire between the Palestinians and Israel.
 
PA and Hamas officials expressed hope that a detainee exchange deal would take place between Israel and Hamas. But according to a senior Hamas official, "Hamas wants to close the case of (captured Israeli soldier Gilad) Schalit as soon as possible." He said that Hamas has made "real concessions" regarding the case of Schalit and was now prepared to exchange him for fewer than 400 Palestinian detainees.
 
The Hamas official said, "We have told the Egyptians that we will be more flexible on the case of Schalit once Israel accepts the truce proposal and stops its military aggression."
 
A detainee exchange with Hamas would bolster the movement's standing among the Palestinians, the analysts noted. They said that the release of several hundred Palestinian detainees, including some from the rival Fatah faction, would certainly earn Hamas more points on the Palestinian street.
 
The Hamas officials who met with Abbas on Monday told him that they were keen on mending fences with his Fatah faction in the same way the warring Lebanese factions solved their differences earlier this week in Qatar. They also told him that Hamas supports Egypt's efforts to achieve a cease-fire with Israel.
 
The Hamas delegation was led by former deputy prime minister Nasser Eddin Shaer and Sheikh Hamed Bitawi, a senior religious scholar who was recently released from Israeli prison. The two, along with four other Hamas figures, are also reported to have relayed a message to Abbas from Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip and Syria expressing their desire to end the ongoing dispute with Fatah.