A member of the political leadership in Hamas said Friday the capture and exchange of an Israeli soldier would not have been possible without the "resistance government" in Gaza. Khalil Hayya said the prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel for Gilad Shalit was the direct result of encouragement from the local authorities and their refusal to coordinate security with Israel. The swap was possible thanks to "the resistance government, which protects the resistance in Gaza, the al-Qassam Brigades who held the Israeli soldier, security ingenuity, and the absence of security coordination in Gaza," Hayya said at a festival honoring the released prisoners. "To whoever wants to compete with us, release prisoners with life terms and whose hands are stained with the blood of Israelis," Hayya said in an apparent swipe at the Fatah-led government in Ramallah.