Hamas to Dismiss Latest ‘israeli’ Prisoner Swap Offer: Report

The report in Palestinian paper Al-Quds came a day after the Ynet news site reported that occupation authorities had recently sent Hamas a new prisoner exchange proposal and was awaiting the Resistance group’s response.

That report did not provide any information about the content of the proposal, but said it was conveyed via a third party at some point in the last several weeks, citing “a source with knowledge of the details.”

Thursday’s report quoted unnamed Palestinian sources saying Israeli latest proposals have been “weak,” offering bodies in exchange for occupation soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul or offering to release only prisoners not convicted of murder.

The sources accused the Zionist entity of engaging in “manipulations” with the offers, adding that Hamas was sticking to its demand to release dozens of prisoners who had been released in a 2011 exchange deal and were then rearrested, as well as elderly and sick prisoners.

Hamas is interested in a deal but “not at all costs,” the sources were quoted as saying.

The Gaza-based group late last month said that a precondition for any prisoner swap deal with Tel Aviv was the release of dozens of prisoners cut loose in the 2011 Shalit deal and since rearrested.

Under that deal with Hamas, Zionist authorities released 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been abducted in 2006.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared last Thursday that the occupation regime was still working to retrieve the bodies of the two servicemen Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, who are  believed to be killed in the Gaza Strip six years ago. Netanyahu said his government would not miss “a window of opportunity” to bring them home.