Hamas ready to release Israel captives if end to Gaza war ‘guaranteed’

Hamas is ready to release all Israeli detainees in exchange for a “serious prisoner swap” and guarantees that Israel will end the war in Gaza including withdrawing its troops from the Strip, Taher Al-Nunu said yesterday.

The Hamas negotiating delegation, led by Khalil Al-Hayya, held several meetings with officials from Egypt and Qatar, the two mediating states in the truce negotiations.

“We are ready to release all Israeli captives in exchange for a serious prisoner swap deal, an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the entry of humanitarian aid,” Hamas official Al-Nunu said.

Al-Nunu accused Israel of obstructing truce deals, saying: “The problem is not the number of [Israeli] captives, but rather that the occupation is reneging on its commitments, blocking the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and continuing the war.”

“Hamas has therefore stressed the need for guarantees to compel the occupation to uphold the agreement,” he said.

He added that Hamas has responded positively and with great flexibility to the ideas presented in the negotiations.

Tel Aviv, he explained, wants to release its captives without moving to the second phase of the negotiations related to a permanent ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

An informed source said the Hamas delegation concluded its meetings with Egyptian and Qatari officials in Cairo without achieving any real progress.

The Israeli news website Ynet reported yesterday that a new proposal had been presented to Hamas. Under the agreement, the movement would release ten living captives in exchange for American guarantees that Israel would enter into negotiations regarding a second phase of the ceasefire.

The first phase of the ceasefire agreement began on 19 January and included several rounds of prisoner and detainee exchanges. However, the agreement collapsed two months later after Israel returned to indiscriminately bombing the enclave.

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