Israel wants 4 countries to mediate prisoner exchange deal: Hamas

GAZA, Palestine

Israel wants Turkey, Germany, Egypt and Qatar to play a mediation role on a prisoner exchange agreement to be concluded with Palestinian groups, the deputy chief of the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, said Friday.

Saleh al-Arouri told Al-Aqsa TV operating under Hamas that "Israel wants Egypt, Turkey, Germany and Qatar to get involved in the exchange agreement. But we will not give anything to the occupant."

He noted that the agreement merely gives an outline to mediators and the deal is the only way for the prisoners to be free, chiefly those who were sentenced to death.

Regarding six Palestinian prisoners who were re-captured after escaping İsrael’s Gilboa prison, Arouri said: "the escape deeply affected the Zionist community. The six Palestinians slapped İsrael in the face and reminded the Palestinian community that they are prisoners who should liberate themselves."

A member of Hamas' Political Bureau Zaher Jabarin said Sept. 22 that the office offered countries mediating between Palestine and İsrael an outline on the prisoner exchange but it has so far not received a response.

Six Palestinian prisoners tunneled out of Gilboa prison Sept. 6. But Zakaria Zubeidi, Mahmoud al-Arida, Yakub Qaderi, and Mohammad al-Arida were caught by Israeli forces after a five-day of manhunt. The mastermind of the jailbreak is suspected to be Mahmoud al-Arida, while the remaining two were recaptured on Sept. 18.

Five prisoners belonged to the Islamic Jihad movement, and one was a former commander of the Fatah group.

* Writing by Dilan Pamuk in Ankara