ISTANBUL, January 23. /TASS/. The radical Palestinian Hamas movement will talk about exchanging prisoners with Israel only after a complete ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the movement's spokesman Walid Kilani said, commenting on Israel's proposal for a two-month ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.

"The main condition is not a temporary but a permanent ceasefire. Only after that will other issues such as prisoner exchange, resumption of humanitarian aid be discussed," he told the Anadolu news agency.

CNN reported on Monday that Israel has offered to let Hamas leaders leave the Gaza Strip as part of a new ceasefire agreement. The channel said the offer had been discussed at least twice in recent weeks, but Hamas was unlikely to agree to such terms.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, after Gaza Strip-based Hamas militants launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory. 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 siege of Gaza and started carrying out strikes on the Palestinian enclave, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.