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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Israel’s Talks about New Prisoner Exchange Deal are Political Maneuvering - Hamas</h1>December 12, 2023</div>
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(Image: Palestine Chronicle)
<p><strong>By <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff" title="Display all articles for Palestine Chronicle Staff">Palestine Chronicle Staff</a></strong> </p>
<blockquote>
<h3><strong>According to Hamas’ top official Osama Hamdan, Israel’s
leaks regarding the possibility of a prisoner exchange deal are a
maneuver to mislead Israeli public opinion.</strong></h3>
</blockquote>
<p><span>Israeli media quoted an official source as saying that the
Israeli government is ready to listen to the mediators’ proposals
regarding a new exchange deal with the Palestinian Resistance Movement
Hamas, Al-Jazeera reported on Tuesday.</span></p>
<p><span>Israeli Channel 12 reported, citing an informed source, that
conditions are ripe to consider the possibility of another exchange deal
for prisoners and detainees.</span></p>
<p><span>According to the source, Mossad Chief David Barnea received
instructions to start listening to the mediating parties, including the
State of Qatar.</span></p>
<p><span>The deal would not be completed during the next week, according
to the source, but this would signal the reopening of a dialogue
process.</span></p>
<p><span>For his part, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on
Monday that Israel is open to the possibility of reaching an agreement
with the Lebanese Resistance group Hezbollah.</span></p>
<p><span>“If Hezbollah allows an agreement process, on the condition any
agreement includes a safe zone along the border and proper guarantees,”
Gallant said, according to Reuters news agency. </span></p>
<h4><b>Different Timeframes</b></h4>
<p><span>However, according to the British newspaper The Guardian, “different timeframes are circulating.”</span></p>
<p><span>“Diplomats at the annual Doha Forum conference in Qatar have
said they are not expecting any reopening of Gaza ceasefire talks for
some weeks,” The Guardian </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/11/gaza-ceasefire-negotiations-unlikely-to-restart-for-weeks-diplomats-say"><span>reported</span></a><span>.</span></p>
<p><span>The diplomats suggested, according to the British newspaper,
that the resumption of ceasefire negotiations is linked to Israel’s
ability to “point to the killing or capture of some of Hamas’s key
leaders as a sign that its military operation has achieved its purpose.”</span></p>
<h4><b>Hamas: No Negotiations without Complete Ceasefire</b></h4>
<p><span>Commenting on the news, Osama Hamdan, a member of Hamas’
political bureau, said that the movement would not conclude any exchange
deal with Israel before the end of the aggression on Gaza.</span></p>
<p><span>In an interview with Al-Jazeera, Osama said that Israel’s leaks
regarding the possibility of a prisoner exchange deal are merely a
maneuver to mislead Israeli public opinion and reduce pressure.</span></p>
<p><span>“The movement’s clear position is that there is no talk of any
prisoner exchange before a complete ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,” Hamdan
said, adding:</span></p>
<blockquote><p><span>“The occupation is trying to appear as if something
is happening politically in order to alleviate internal pressure from
the prisoners’ families”.</span></p></blockquote>
<p><span>According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 18,205 Palestinians
have been killed and 49,645 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza
starting on October 7. Palestinian and international estimates say that
the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children. </span></p>
<p><em>(PC, AJA)</em></p>
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