Israel has decided to address the issue of a prisoner exchange with Hamas after months of delays, deputy leader of Hamas' politburo Moussa Abu Marzouk told Al Araby Al-Jadeed on Friday.
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Abu Marzok also noted that there had been "developments" toward a possible trade.
"The deal will be ready in a few weeks if Israel complies with Hamas' demands," Abu Marzouk said, adding that Israel was dragging its heels. He did not provide details about what the deal would entail or what Hamas' demands were, but in the past, the terrorist group has insisted that all its prisoners released in the 2011 trade for captive soldier Gilad Schalit who were later reimprisoned for terrorist activities be released.
High-ranking officials in both Egypt and the Gaza Strip have confirmed that indirect negotiations, brokered by the Egyptian intelligence services, for the return of two captive Israelis and the remains of fallen soldiers Lt. Hadar Goldin and Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, have resumed.
In the past few days, Egyptian and Palestinian media outlets have reported that during Sukkot a delegation of senior Israeli security officials visited Cairo to try and help move the talks forward.
Other reports said that the UN's Middle East point man recently met with senior Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian reports, the meeting focused on the promotion of the UN's employment projects in Gaza, but a few senior Hamas officials confirmed that the primary purpose of the meeting had been to coordinate between UN representatives, Egyptian mediators, and Hamas.
Zahar Jabarin, a member of the Hamas politburo who holds the prisoners portfolio, told Radio A-Shams, which broadcasts from Nazareth, that the demands Hamas submitted to the Egyptian mediators included the release of all the Schalit deal prisoners who had been re-captured; the release of a number of long-term inmates who were put in prison before the Oslo Accords, including some Arab Israelis; and the release of dozens of minors imprisoned in Israel.
"We are willing to make a deal, but what Israel is offering does not meet our minimum requirements," Jabarin said. He stressed that "Hamas opposes conditioning the deal on the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip."
Jabarin said that while the Egyptians were taking the lead on the talks, "there are other international officials who are involved in the effort. The ball is now in Israel's court."
The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, identified with Hezbollah, quoted a senior Hamas official who said that Hamas has submitted two proposals to the Egyptian mediators for a deal that would be implemented in stages. The first stage of both proposals calls for the release of the terrorists re-imprisoned after their release in the Schalit deal, as well as dozens of minor prisoners and elderly or sick prisoners.
The second stage of both proposals calls for Israel to release some 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, most of whom were involved in terrorist attacks that killed or wounded Israelis.
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