They think they have won already

Israel will eventually surrender to the demands of the captors of IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Schalit and release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, a senior Hamas official said Wednesday.
Can you believe the gumption of this shmoe? Here, you give us one guy and will give you 1600. If this is seriously being considered Olmert might as well put up the white flag, have the Israelis pack their bags, and make sure they have their passports ready.

"We are aware of the fact that the negotiations with the occupation government [over the release of the prisoners] are difficult and facing many obstacles, but we also know that Israel has no choice but to succumb to our demands," said Yehya Musa, deputy head of Hamas's Change and Reform parliamentary list. "Israel knows very well that this is the only way to secure the release of its soldiers."

This is the exact way that Gangster and drug dealers take over neighborhoods. Give in a little at a time until there is nothing left to give and give it anyhow. Hamas is guilty of an illegal act and are now compounding that with blackmail. If this is the type of government we are supposed to deal with we might as well hand everything over to the barbarians. This is NOT how a civilized government acts. Giving in to this demand only makes matters worse and guarantees it will happen again on a larger scale.

PA Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti claimed that Israel's refusal to accept all the demands of the captors was "a sign of the weakness of the Israeli government."
The Israeli government, he added, has proven once again that it was unable to deal with recurring initiatives made by the Palestinians.

"Israel is therefore fully responsible for the delay in achieving a prisoner exchange," he said.

"The Israeli government, through its procrastination, is responsible for the fact that Gilad Schalit is still being held captive."

Barghouti called on the international community to exert pressure on Israel to accept the demands of the captors. He also rejected Israel's position that it would not release prisoners with Jewish blood on their hands.

Read more over at the excellent Gentile Warrior