Israel on Wednesday linked any assistance it might provide to support the Gaza Strip's efforts to combat the Corona virus, with the progress it is making in its attempt to recover two Israeli soldiers who went missing during the 2014 war on the Strip.

Defense Minister Naftali Bennett told reporters that when there is a discussion about the humanitarian field in Gaza, Israel also has humanitarian needs, referring to an infantry officer and recruiter Israel says were killed in the 2014 war and that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) keeps their remains.

"I think we need to engage in an expanded dialogue about the humanitarian needs of us and Gaza. It is not correct to separate these matters from each other ... and certainly our hearts will be open to many things," Bennett added.

Officials in the Gaza Strip launched appeals for external humanitarian assistance to tackle the Corona virus, as the Strip recorded the infection of 12 people.

Palestinian officials said today, Wednesday, that 1,500 equipment from the Corona virus screening devices will be brought to Gaza, with the assistance of the World Health Organization, provided by the Palestinian administration in the occupied West Bank.

In turn, Hamas said that Israel bears responsibility for any repercussions of the epidemic in Gaza because it has besieged the Strip for 13 years.

She pointed out that the return of the officer and the soldier, as well as Israeli civilians who crossed the border to the Strip, would require negotiating a prisoner exchange deal and would not take place in exchange for humanitarian aid.

The movement's spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum, explained that the conclusion of a prisoner exchange deal is a separate track from this issue.

Israel has previously released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, in exchange for the recovery of a few Israelis, whether they are living captives or their remains.