Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz revealed that his government is working on an exchange deal "to return soldiers and civilians detained in Gaza in exchange for the release of prisoners."
The Israeli minister did not provide any additional details about the nature of the expected deal, nor the number of Palestinian prisoners that Israel would agree to release in exchange for the release of its soldiers detained in Gaza by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
A few days ago, the Al-Qassam Brigades showed scenes of what it said was one of its captured occupation soldiers, confirming what it had announced the day before about the deterioration of his health.
The scenes - which were shown by the Al-Qassam Brigades through the Telegram application - showed the prisoner, whom I identified as the Israeli soldier Hisham Al-Sayed, lying on a bed in a state of fatigue and breathing through an oxygen tube.
Al-Qassam Brigades also presented the captive's identity cards, including his date of birth and military number.
The spokesman for the "Al -Qassam Brigades" Abu Ubaidah said before that - in a leaflet via Telegram - "We announce a deterioration of the health of one of the enemy prisoners at the Al -Qassam Brigades, and we will publish during the coming hours, God willing, what confirms this." Her efforts to return these prisoners.
The Al-Qassam Brigades are holding 4 Israelis in the Gaza Strip, including two soldiers who were captured during the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip in 2014, Shaul Aaron and Hadar Goldin.
As for the other two prisoners - Abraham Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, both of whom hold Israeli citizenships - they entered Gaza under unclear circumstances.
Maariv newspaper said that Israeli activists are calling on the government to provide the families of the prisoners with reliable information about the condition of their sons detained by Hamas.
Family invitation to deal seriously with the prisoner file
After the video was shown, the former coordinator of prisoners and missing persons in the Israeli government, Moshe Tal, called for dealing seriously with Hamas' announcement of the deteriorating health condition of one of its Israeli prisoners.
In a radio interview, Tal said that this should be a warning to the Israeli government that two Israelis have been imprisoned for 8 years, and that their health may deteriorate.
Tal also did not rule out the possibility that Hamas' declaration would amount to psychological warfare.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said at the time that his country would continue its efforts to recover its prisoners held by Hamas.
In a statement issued by his office, Bennett accused Hamas of detaining "two psychologically disturbed civilians and the bodies of two soldiers, in contravention of all international conventions and laws."
He added that "Hamas bears responsibility for the condition of the two captured civilians."