Hamas has presented a “clear roadmap” for a prisoner exchange deal with the Israeli occupation authorities, the movement’s Political Bureau member Zaher Jabareen said on Monday, stressing that the “ball is now in the Israeli court.”
The Hamas leadership and the movement’s military wing, said Jabareen, pay special attention to the prisoners’ issue, especially those who are serving long sentences. He noted that Israel has been trying to link the reconstruction of Gaza with the Israeli soldiers held in the besieged enclave.
The government of Gaza (Hamas) has presented a plan to negotiate a prisoner swap with the Israeli occupation which they have recently said would include the six escaped Palestinians who are now back in illegal Israeli prisons.
— Ben Rubinstein 🇵🇸 (@BlekingBen) September 20, 2021
“Hamas and the resistance leadership reject such a link. The movement has told all of the mediators that it is impossible to link the two issues. Moreover, the intentions of the Israeli occupation authorities are not clear.”
The release of prisoners re-arrested and imprisoned after being released in the 2011 prisoner swap is a precondition for any new deal, said Jabareen.
Hamas: 6 escapees a priority in any prisoner swap https://t.co/ew7n7vJ1RU
— Khamakar News Agency (@KhamakarPress) September 18, 2021
Jabareen also told the New Arab website that the conditions for a swap “get more difficult through time”. He said that Hamas has added to the ‘freedom list’ the six prisoners who escaped from Gilboa Prison only to be recaptured recently.
According to Arab48.com, Egyptian sources have revealed that the issue of the prisoner exchange deal was highlighted during the recent meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
