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Hamas says receives prisoner swap deal with Israel

Xinhua, February 8, 2017 Adjust font size:

Islamic Hamas movement's militant group, Al-Qassam brigades, said Wednesday that it has received new offer for a prisoner swap deal with Israel.

Qatari Al-Jazeera news network reported that a high ranking leader in Hamas militant group said that the brigades leadership "received lately different Israeli offers via regional and international mediators to hold a prisoner swap deal in return for it's incarcerated soldiers in Gaza."

The leader, whose name was not mentioned, said that "the figures and formula presented by Israel so far do not meet the resistance group's minimum requirements," highlighting that "there is no truth to the Israeli reports about the swap being in return for commercial facilitations."

This is the first announcement by Al-Qassam officials about swap deal offers with Israel after the Egypt brokered prisoners swap in 2011, which witnessed the release of Israeli soldier captured in Gaza for almost five years in exchange for over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, most of whom were arrested again.

This announcement came after a Hamas security delegation met with Egyptian officials in Cairo. The visit was the first since the ousting of former Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi in 2013. Endit