The head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, discussed with Mikhail Bogdanov, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, the difficult humanitarian conditions of Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli occupation prisons, and called for their protection from the Corona virus, pressure on the occupation to ensure their safety, and to take full responsibility for their lives.
Haniyeh affirmed - during a telephone conversation with Bogdanov today - that Hamas is determined to release the Palestinian prisoners, as part of the exchange that can be achieved if Israel responds to the requirements of this matter.
The head of the movement, Yahya al-Sinwar, offered a week ago to offer a partial waiver in the issue of Israeli prisoners to the Palestinian resistance, in exchange for the release of the elderly and sick prisoners, in a humanitarian initiative due to the crisis of the Corona pandemic.
Al-Sinwar said - in an interview with Al-Aqsa TV - that the prisoners' deal negotiations had stopped since the beginning of the political crisis inside Israel, and that they had sent a message to all mediators that it was not possible to start negotiations on a new deal before the release of the prisoners of the Shalit deal, who were re-arrested.
Commenting on the statements of the head of the Hamas movement in Gaza, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office announced on Tuesday that the Israeli authorities concerned with prisoners' affairs are ready to move constructively and open an immediate dialogue through mediators in order to recover the bodies of soldiers and missing persons held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli sources said that this announcement came in response to hints from Hamas in which it expressed its readiness to conclude a prisoner exchange deal after the escalation of the Corona virus crisis, which afflicted everyone, according to these sources.
Tel Aviv officially admits that Hamas is holding four Israelis, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed a month ago to return them.