Will coronavirus crisis spur Hamas-Israel swap deal?
Hamas has recently announced its readiness to make concessions in the prisoner swap deal with Israel, pushing mediators to communicate and reactivate the dossier that has been on hold for the past five years.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar's expression of his movement’s readiness to hold prisoner-exchange negotiations has stirred mixed reactions in Israel. Shortly after Sinwar’s announcement and far from the media spotlight, Russian and Egyptian mediators siezed the opportunity to move forward a file that has been on hold for more than five years.
In a televised interview with the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa channel on April 3, Sinwar expressed Hamas’ willingness to make partial concessions to Israel regarding a deal to release Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, specifically the elderly, the sick, children and women.
He added, “However, Israel should pay the highest price in this prisoner-exchange deal.”
On April 7, as soon as Israel received Sinwar’s surprise announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel’s Coordinator for Captives and Missing Persons Yaron Blum and his team, in collaboration with the National Security Council and the defense establishment, are “committed to acting constructively with the aim of bringing back the soldiers’ bodies and missing civilians and putting an end to the issue.” He called for “immediate dialogue between mediators.”
