Hamas reportedly issued a statement saying they will not have discussions about the hostages until Israel ends its military involvement in Gaza.
“There is a Palestinian national decision that there should be no talk about prisoners or exchange deals except after a full cessation of aggression,” the statement reportedly said.
Khalil Al-Hayya, the deputy chairman of Hamas in Gaza, said that Hamas “wants an end to the aggression, then we will go to reconstruction and construction, and then we will talk about the prisoners,” according to The Jerusalem Post.
“We want a complete cessation of aggression, then Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, and then we talk about the prisoners,” Al-Hayya added.
Senior Hamas official Basem Naem similarly said that Hamas will not “hold any form of negotiations over prisoners exchange under the continuing Israeli genocidal war.”
“We are, however, open to any initiative that contributes to ending the aggression on our people and opening the crossings to bring in aid and provide relief to the Palestinian people,” he noted.
Last week, seventy Hamas terrorists surrendered to Israeli forces out of the Kamal Adwan Hospital this week, following an intense firefight in the Beit Lahiya region of Gaza.
“During operational activity in the area of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, IDF troops located a building used by Hamas terrorist operatives and located weapons inside. Additionally, during engagements with terrorists in the area of the hospital, a number of terrorists were killed by IDF troops,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
“During IDF activity in the area, over 70 terrorist operatives came out of the hospital with weapons in hand. The terrorists were transferred to field interrogators from Unit 504 in the Intelligence Directorate and ISA coordinators for further questioning.”
Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri recently called for “violent acts” to be taken against U.S. and U.K. “interests.”
Appearing on Al-Aqsa TV, Zuhri said, “When [U.S. Secretary of State] Blinken is justifying the killing of women and children, the sons of our nation should say to him: You are the enemy, just like Netanyahu, and you must pay the price, just like [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu. We should keep this in mind.”
“Now it is our nation’s turn to pressure the Americans to stop this war. We need violent acts against American and British interests everywhere, as well as the interests of all the countries that support the occupation,” he added.
