Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas released a video on Tuesday purporting to show an Israeli citizen being held captive in the Gaza Strip, the first such images of the man since his capture seven years ago.
The move appeared to be a Hamas bid to pressure Israel for a prisoner swap as Egyptian-mediated negotiations between the sides on such a deal have lagged.
Hamas seeks a ‘Shalit
Deal 2’ for the return of two missing Israeli civilians and the bodies of two
IDF soldiers. What is known besides Hamas’s overall goal of the release of
hundreds of security prisoners;
The bottom line is that they are seeking to replicate the deal when Gilad Shalit was released in exchange for 1000 terrorists in Israeli jails.
It demands an “entry fee”
to even engage in negotiations in the form of the release of 50 security
prisoners arrested during “Operation Brother’s Keeper,” conducted in the West
Bank following the kidnapping and subsequent murder of three Israeli teens.
Hamas’s demand for “entry fees” was first reported by
Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat several months ago, and has now been confirmed for the first time by an Israeli
official.
Jerusalem has rejected Hamas’s demand to release
prisoners as a precondition to begin the negotiations.
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