No More Captive Swap Until War Ends, ‘Israeli’ Reports Aim to Relieve Pressure - Hamas

By Staff, Agencies

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas said there will be no new captive swap with ‘Israel’ until the unrelenting aggression against the besieged territory stops.

In a press briefing in Beirut on Monday, Hamas representative in Lebanon and member of the group’s politburo Osama Hamdan dismissed reports that said ‘Israel’ is ready to resume contact with mediators for the possible release of the remaining ‘Israeli’ captives held in Gaza.

“There will be no agreement on the exchange of more captives for prisoners before the onslaught [against Gaza] ceases. The ‘Israeli’ media reports about the possibility of a new prisoner swap [with Hamas] are meant to mislead the public opinion in the face of increasing domestic discontent,” Hamdan said.

“No compromise is acceptable over the blood of fallen Palestinians. [Zionist prime minister] Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to escape from the regime’s internal conflicts, especially the crisis with the families of the captives held in Gaza.”

Earlier on Monday, ‘Israeli’ Channel 12 reported that the new prisoner exchange deal would be carried out within the framework of a truce, and would include women still in captivity, patients, the wounded, and elderly people.

It added that ‘Israeli’ officials believe that the chances of reaching a new prisoner swap deal with Hamas are not likely next week, but ‘Israel’ still believes in opening a new path.

Since November 24, Hamas exchanged 110 captives, including 80 ‘Israelis’, for 240 Palestinians illegally abducted by the regime and kept in ‘Israeli’ jails during a 7-day pause in the Gaza war.

The truce, meditated by Qatar and Egypt, also allowed the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza after weeks of ‘Israeli’ attacks on the territory.

‘Israeli’ sources say Hamas still holds 137 captives after it carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7 in the occupied territories.

Hamas has repeatedly said that talks over ‘Israeli’ soldiers being kept in Gaza will be held at a later stage.

Spokesman of Hamas’s military wing, Abu Ubaida, said on Sunday that the only way for the group to release ‘Israeli’ captives alive is for the ‘Israelis’ and their supporters to accept its conditions, including the release of Palestinian abductees.

“Neither the fascist enemy and its arrogant leadership... nor its supporters... can take their prisoners alive without an exchange and negotiation and meeting the demands of the resistance,” Abu Ubaida said.

Hamas launched the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against the occupying entity in response to the ‘Israeli’ regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians. Since then ‘Israel’ has begun an unprecedented bombing campaign of Gaza and targeted civilians in the Strip.

The ‘Israeli’ aggression has so far left at least 18,205 Palestinian martyrs, most of them women and children, and wounded 49,645 others.

The Zionist regime has also imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.