Hamas leaders in Damascus and Gaza struggled to find proper words to answer queries from hundreds of families of Palestinian prisoners waiting to be reunited with their loved ones during Eid al-Adha.

"We could not make any promises," a Hamas leader told this writer, "the truth of the matter a swap could take place any moment or could take a year or more of negotiations."

Sure enough, efforts to  seal a deal on the eve of the sacred holiday failed at the last minute when Israel rejected the inclusion of key names, mainly those who have served long imprisonment terms, in the swap deal of around 1500 detainees in return for captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Mothers pleaded with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal on the phone to expedite the deal. But Hamas   cannot afford an agreement that is seen as less than a major political achievement, if not a victory that involves captive Palestinian leaders.

 For one, they feel that that the release of Shalit provides a rare chance to ensure the freeing of people like Fateh leader Marwan Barghouti, Popular Liberation Front for the liberation of Palestine (PFLP) head Ahmad Saadat, and Hamas West Bank chief Hassan Youssef.

"It has to be seen as a Palestinian national achievement and not simply a Hamas tactical victory," explained the leader.

While the plight of the families underscores the essentially human nature of a prisoners' exchange, it is a highly complicated political issue.

Shalit, who was captured four years ago, is one of Hamas's strongest cards to play with a militarily more powerful Israel that has been imposing a crushing siege against the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. More significantly captive Israeli soldiers, and not peace negotiations, have proved to be the only guarantor for getting Israel to release a big number of Palestinian prisoners.

But Hamas sees Shalit as a more potential card in its struggle to secure world political recognition.  While it cannot be seen as callous in the face of the suffering of families of prisoners, it seems determined to milk the deal for all its potential political gains.

The issue of Palestinian prisoners is sensitive to all Palestinians. There are at least 11,000 detainees in Israeli jails -many of whom are serving or have served long sentences.  But if Hamas pulls off a large-scale agreement it will bolster its image as "unifier" and a viable alternative to the Palestinian Authority.

The inclusion of names like Barghouti, who is serving five consecutive life terms, will send a message to the world community and the Arab World that that Hamas should not, and could not be excluded, from any future negotiations.

Hamas leaders, told this writer, that they try to remain in touch with Barghouti, as they so far, believe that he truly supports a national reconciliation and more significantly that he could stand up to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Barghouti has expressed public disappointment in Hamas' refusal to sign an Egyptian-brokered accord that would reconcile all Palestinian factions. But he maintained contacts, though close associates, with the Islamic movement in the hope for an eventual national reconciliation.

He understands that his release, as part of a Hamas negotiated deal, would boost Hamas international standing at the expense of his own movement. But he also sees it, according to associates who are in touch with him, as a welcome step to close the ranks especially that the deal is supposed to include prisoners from all Palestinian groups.

A deal is an essential part of Hamas' strategy to win the battle of representation against the PA and the Fatah movement.  Hamas officials believe, a swap agreement will further expose and weaken President Abbas and compel Washington to end its boycott of the Palestinian movement.

The PA cannot afford to scuttle or not support a prisoners' exchange that will reunite thousands of Palestinian families and touches all sectors of the society.  Although it is formally excluded from the negotiations, the PA is kept informed by German and Egyptian mediators as the internationally- recognized Palestinian government.

 Israel has used the prisoners' issue to further deepen the Palestinian divide. In 2007 Israel agreed to  include the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee member, Abdel Rahim Mallouh to the PA, along with 255 prisoners  as "a gesture to boost Abbas  against Hamas."

Most recently it has released a number of female Palestinian prisoners in return for a video taped message from Shalit to his family. Although the release included, some big names, most the free prisoners were near to finishing their prisoner's term-a trick that Israel has frequently deployed to lessen the importance of Palestinian political gains.

Traditionally though, all Palestinian factions, have always welcomed the prisoners' releases regardless of the nature of the deal, or the faction taking credit for the such important, at least in terms of human level, achievement.

Putting the internal Palestinian rivalries and petty calculations aside, Hamas, as all the Palestinian factions alike, have been inspired by the 2008 successful Hezbollah-negotiated prisoners 'exchange, or more accurately body of  Israel soldiers in exchange for  Lebanese prisoners and remains of Palestinian captured or killed.

The Hezbollah prisoners' exchange, brokered by the same German mediators, had set the standard in how prisoners' exchanges should be dealt with in any political or military battle. An outcome should not   be seen as one dictated by Israel but as a victory for Palestinian rights.

Consequently, the minimal deal that Hamas appears ready to accept should include two of its main military wing leaders Ibrahim Hamed and Abdullah Barghouti-two names that Israel has so far categorically rejected.

"It is heart wrenching to hear people pleading. But at times it seems that the only thing that we can say as ask pray for us as we struggle for a good deal," the Hamas official said.

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