Member of Hama’s political bureau Mahmoud al-Zahhar has said that his Movement is studying the seriousness of the overture made by the Israeli government for a new prisoner swap deal.
In press remarks to Palestine newspaper Zahhar said that Hamas set the conditions for a new swap deal and prepared a list of prisoners who should be released especially those with medical conditions and the elderlies.
He pointed out that the current dangerous situation in Israeli jails made his Movement more determined to extract the prisoners’ freedom affirming that Hamas wants a balanced swap deal without the Israeli occupation state achieving gains at the expense of the Palestinian prisoners.
The Hamas official expressed his Movement’s concern that this issue could be some kind of a political game being played by Israeli parties or an attempt by Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu to polish up his name.
“The return of the [Palestinian prisoners] is like an Eid occasion to us and the cost of their return could be prisoners corpses or other things in al-Qassam Brigades’ possession” Zahhar said.
