The leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, proposed this Saturday the release of all hostages held in Gaza in exchange for the release of all Palestinian prisoners imprisoned in Israel.
“We are willing to immediately close a prisoner exchange agreement that includes the release of all our prisoners held in your prisons in exchange for the release of all the prisoners held by the resistance,” Sinwar said, quoted by Israeli media.
Sinwar thus joins the position expressed this Saturday by Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for the Ezzedin al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, although Sinwar's intervention is especially relevant because it is his first public appearance since the beginning of the current conflict.. Of the 230 hostages that Hamas took, four have been released and dozens are believed to be in the hands not of Hamas, but of Islamic Jihad.
The working hypothesis is that only when Hamas feels the sword at its throat will it want to reach agreements
A spokesman for the Israeli Armed Forces, Daniel Hagari, responded by calling Sinwar's words “psychological terrorism cynically used by Hamas to exert pressure.”
“Nothing is on the table regarding the kidnapped. Sinwar can't say anything. Speak through intermediaries. Hamas does not communicate directly with Israel and we will continue to do everything possible to free the hostages,” he added, according to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Aharonoth.
Another military source cited by the newspaper assures that “Hamas does not want an agreement. You don't have to believe what they say. They want to delay the ground operation. That is why we have decided to expand the operation. “It was a unanimous decision by the entire Government.”
“The working hypothesis is that only when Hamas feels the sword at its throat will it want to reach agreements. They understand that Israel has red lines and that there is no possibility of Israel emptying its prisons. “That's not going to happen,” he argued.
However, “we understand that there is a price we will have to pay, but we are not going to go bankrupt.” “The families of the hostages understand that the decisive moment is approaching. We have to reach a point where there is an agreement on the table and the next step will be to approve it,” he explained.