Hamas: Exchange of prisoners with Israel only by truce in Gaza Strip

Any exchange of hostages from Palestinian prisoners can only be made after a truce in the Gaza Strip, Osama Hamdan, its top official, stressed. As negotiations continued in Cairo between Hamas and US representatives, Qatar and Egypt, Hamdan held a press conference in Beirut in which he repeated its terms: ending Israel’s military operations, leaving the Gaza Strip and returning the displaced to the areas they left. “In the last two days, the movement presented its position on the proposal submitted by the brother mediators from Qatar and Egypt. We have confirmed our conditions for a truce: full withdrawal (of troops) from the Gaza Strip and return of displaced persons to the areas left, especially in the northern part,” said Osama Hamdan, a member of the Hamas political office. The humanitarian crisis has deteriorated in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of residents are estimated to remain defying the orders of the Israeli army for evacuation. The United Nations has failed to deliver food aid to the northern part of the Palestinian enclave since 23 January. The Israeli authorities have denied access to UN vehicle emissions, while American aircraft have now moved on to humanitarian aid – the first of a series of similar operations to follow. Addressing the U.S. government, Hamdan stressed: “We tell Washington the most important of the mission (humanitarian) aid is to stop arms supplies in Israel”.