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Middle East conflict

Talks on prisoner exchange possible only after end of war in Gaza – Hamas

This was stated by a member of the leadership of the Palestinian movement Osama Hamdan

BEIRUT, December 14. /TASS/. Hamas has reiterated that talks on hostage release can only be resume after Israel ceases combat operations in the Gaza Strip.

"Talks on any deal on prisoner exchange are possible only after Israel ends its aggression," Hamas wrote on its Telegram channel, citing its senior official Osama Hamdan.

"We are open to [discussing] any efforts geared to stop the aggression against our people <…> release our prisoners held in [Israeli] prisons," he added.

Hamas official Basem Naim said earlier that the movement was not in talks with mediators about the release of hostages who were taken during the attack on Israel in early October. This is "Hamas’ official position," he stressed.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 200 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.

On November 22, Hamas announced an agreement with Israel, which was brokered by Egypt and Qatar, on a four-day humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, which took effect on November 24. The deal stipulated the release of Israeli women and children being held hostage in Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons.

The sides extended the ceasefire several times but on the morning of December 1 the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that Hamas had violated the truce in Gaza and opened fire on Israeli territory, thus prompting the IDF to resume combat operations in the Gaza Strip.

On December 5, Hamdan said that Hamas would not release any of hostages it was still holding until Israel stopped its operation in Gaza.

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Palestine Israel

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