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Hamas shows photos of 4 missing Israeli soldiers

Xinhua, April 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Islamic Hamas movement showed pictures of four Israeli soldiers on Friday who are said to be missing in the Gaza Strip since 2014.

Abu Obeida, spokesman of Hamas armed wing in Gaza the al-Qassam Brigades, said there are "no contacts with the Israeli occupation on its missing prisoners of war in Gaza."

The spokesman, covering his face with a red scarf and wearing a military uniform, showed up on the screen of al-Aqsa TV, speaking in Arabic with a poster behind him showing black-and-white photos of the four Israeli soldiers.

"Netanyahu lied at his people when he spoke about his prisoners," he added.

The spokesman insisted that Israel will not be able to get information on the four soldiers "before paying the prices before and after any negotiations on this issue."

In the summer of 2014, Israel waged a large scale military operation in Gaza that lasted for 50 days. The offensive left 2,200 Palestinians and 70 Israelis killed as well as four Israeli soldiers missing.

Hamas rejects to say whether the missing soldiers are dead or alive, as Israel had repeatedly announced that the soldiers were killed during the offensive and asked Hamas to return their bodies back to Israel.

In 2010, Egypt brokered a prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas, in which Israel released 1,028 male and female prisoners in return for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was captured by Gaza militants in 2006. Endit