No prisoner exchange deal under fire: Senior Hamas official
A senior Hamas official has reaffirmed that the movement will not enter into talks over a new prisoner swap deal with Israel until the regime’s ongoing genocidal war on the Gaza Strip comes to an end.
Khalil al-Hayya, a member of the Hamas’ Political Bureau, made the remarks in an interview with Qatar’s Al Jazeera television network on Sunday.
“The resistance rejects the aggression of the enemy, which must be stopped before we can discuss prisoner exchanges,” he said.
“The issue of prisoner exchange is closed until the cessation of the war,” al-Hayya asserted, reiterating, “We want an end to the aggression. Then we will start reconstruction and construction [of Gaza], and after that we will talk about the prisoners.”
Around 19,000 people have been killed in the Israeli regime’s onslaught on Gaza that began on October 7 following an operation by the territory’s resistance movements, dubbed Operation al-Aqsa Storm.
Last month, as part of a week-long humanitarian ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Egypt, fighting was paused and humanitarian aid entered Gaza, which is also under a complete siege by Israel.
The deal enabled the two sides to exchange 240 Palestinian abductees held by Israel and 105 captives held in Gaza, including 81 Israelis and 24 foreigners.
Israel claims that about 137 captives are still in Gaza, while there are thought to be 7,000 Palestinian abductees in Israeli prisons, many of whom have been detained without charge.
Ousting Hamas “an illusion”
Elsewhere in his remarks, al-Hayya stressed that Gaza’s resistance groups are capable of withstanding the Israeli aggression and inflicting more losses on the enemy.
“The resistance is fine, steadfast, and capable of inflicting more losses on the enemy in terms of personnel and equipment,” he said, adding, “The enemy will not be left in peace, neither in Gaza [City], nor in Khan Yunis, nor in the north, nor in any other area across the Gaza Strip.”
Earlier this week, Hamas’ military wing said its fighters had killed at least 36 Israeli forces within just 72 hours. The Israeli regime has, itself, confirmed that as many as 116 of its forces have been killed in Gaza during the course of the war.
The Hamas official reaffirmed that the final goal sought by the Palestinian resistance groups is “the liberation of our land and our sanctities.”
Pointing to the Israeli regime’s allegations that it seeks to end the rule and presence of Hamas in Gaza, al-Hayya said, “[What comes] next in Gaza is a victory [for the resistance] and whoever thinks [about Gaza] without Hamas is thinking of an illusion.”
Thanking regional resistance groups
The Hamas official, meanwhile, expressed gratitude towards Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement over its attacks on Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
Ansarullah “has tilted the balance” in favor of Palestinians, he said, adding, “I am calling on our brothers in Yemen: Keep on following this path.”
Al-Hayya also thanked Iraqi resistance groups and Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement for their retaliatory strikes against Israel and its backers, and in support of Palestinians in Gaza, saying Hezbollah has managed to “distract the enemy on the northern front.”
