HAMAS READY FOR NEGOTIATIONS WITH ISRAEL ON PRISONER EXCHANGE

Mon 31 May 2021:

The Palestinian Hamas movement is ready for urgent negotiations with Israel on prisoner exchange, Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip and political bureau chief, said on Monday.

Sinwar made his statement a few hours after the head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service visited the Gaza Strip.

Hamas is ready to hold indirect negotiations with Israel to reach a prisoner swap, Sinwar said, The Jerusalem post reported.

Abbas Kamel was received by a delegation of Hamas leaders, led by Yahya Sinwar in Gaza.

“We are confident that we are able to extract our rights,” he said. “I want to tell you something. Remember the number 1,111. What are the details of this number? I can’t say at this moment. But you need to remember this number well.”

Sinwar was apparently referring to the number of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel that his group is demanding in return for two Israeli civilians and the bodies of two soldiers held by the Gaza-based group.

Efforts to reach a prisoner-exchange agreement had witnessed “movements” in the past, but they were stopped due to the unstable political situation in Israel after the last general election, Sinwar said.

“The process of exchange of prisoners has been moving forward recently, but it has stalled due to the lack of a stable government of the occupiers … we are ready for urgent negotiations,” Sinwar told reporters.

Abbas Kamel, the head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, arrived in the Gaza Strip through the Erez border crossing with Israel after holding talks with Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials on Sunday. It was his first visit to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip since his appointment as GIS chief in 2018.

The Hamas leader in Gaza Strip also said that various Palestinian groups will be holding meetings in Cairo in the next few days.

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