The deputy leader of the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, addressed on Monday the most recent reports of a possible prisoner exchange agreement with Israel, saying that "if Israel doesn't pay the price of the deal, its captives won't see the light of day."
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Al-Hayya's interview with Qatar-owned satellite news network Al-Jazeera followed a report Sunday that Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel was expected later this month to present Prime Minister Naftali Bennett with a proposal for an outline for a prisoner swap agreement, to which Hamas has already agreed.
In the interview, al-Hayya said Hamas was conditioning the deal on the releases of terrorist masterminds Marwan Barghouti of the rival Fatah faction and Ahmad Sa'adat of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. In 2001, Sa'adat orchestrated the assassination of former minister Rehavam Ze'evi in Jerusalem. Barghouti was convicted for his role in numerous deadly attacks against Israeli civilians during the Second Intifada.
Al-Hayya also claimed that Israel was the side delaying the deal, and that it had tried "but failed" to link it to the matter of Gaza's rehabilitation following Operation Guardian of the Walls. According to al-Hayya, any prisoner swap must also include the six Palestinian terrorists who escaped Gilboa prison in northern Israel in Setember, and were caught and put back in jail following an extensive manhunt.
The deputy Hamas leader went on to say he was proud of Iran's support of Gaza.
"Tehran transfers ongoing aid to Hamas in any way possible," said al-Hayya. "It helped and helps the forces and the capabilities of the resistance in Palestine."
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