Israel has conveyed through mediators a message to the Hamas Movement that it is interested in reaching a prisoner swap deal to release its captives in Gaza as soon as possible.
A senior Israeli official told a local satellite channel that this message said that the mediated talks with Hamas in this regard should be without preconditions such as its demand for the release of Palestinian prisoners who were rejailed following the 2011 swap deal.
According to this official Israel asked for not including those who were accused of killing Israelis so as to avoid making a deal similar to the previous one.
The mediators who conveyed Israel’s message also told Hamas that a solution to the humanitarian situation in Gaza cannot be reached without agreeing on a deal as soon as possible with the Israeli coordinator responsible for dealing with this file.
