GAZA, (PIC)
The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, said on Saturday evening that it has just submitted its response to the Egyptian and Qatari mediators regarding the proposal it received last Monday regarding ceasefire talks in Gaza.
In a press statement, the Movement reiterated its commitment to its demands and “the demands of our people.”
It emphasized that these demands include a permanent cessation of fire, the withdrawal of the occupation army from the entire Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced to their areas and places of residence, and the intensification of relief aid and reconstruction.
The Movement also indicated its readiness to conclude a serious and genuine prisoner exchange deal between the two sides.
Earlier in the day, Al Jazeera website quoted informed sources as saying that the recent Israeli offer did not bring anything new regarding the return of the displaced to their places of residence in the northern Gaza Strip. It still insists on their return under Israeli military and security control and within predetermined numbers, which does not meet the unconditional return demand put forward by Hamas.
The proposal does not meet the demand for the withdrawal of occupation forces from the Salah al-Din and al-Rashid axes, nor does it include a commitment to withdraw forces from the Strip in the second stage according to the understandings reached in Paris.
Netanyahu’s government still presents a limited equation for the prisoner exchange and insists on releasing only 100 prisoners with high sentences, which it chooses from those selected by Hamas, in exchange for 4 to 5 female soldiers held by the resistance. Meanwhile, Hamas demands an equation of 1 to 50, leading to the release of 250 prisoners in this category as determined by the Movement in advance.
