Israel proposes new prisoner swap with Hamas: Report

Israel is reportedly waiting on the Palestinian group's response to the proposal.

1 min read

09 July, 2020

Israel holds around 5,700 Palestinian prisoners [Getty]

Israel has proposed a new prisoner swap with Hamas and is reportedly waiting for the Palestinian Islamist group's response, according to Israeli media reports.

Israel sent the proposal via a third party, according to a "source with knowledge of the details" cited by Israel's Ynet news.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, said last month that Israel must release dozens of prisoners who were rearrested by the Jewish state after being released as part of a 2011 exchange as a precondition for further deals.

Earlier this year, Hamas was reported to have given Israel a list of 250 Palestinian prisoners it wanted released, including women, children and elderly detainees.

There have been several attempts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian prisoner exchange deal in recent years, though none have succeeded.

Israel holds around 5,700 Palestinian prisoners, 44 women and 200 children.

Hamas, meanwhile, reportedly holds two Israelis - Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed - and the remains of the bodies of Israeli soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul – killed during the Israeli invasion of Gaza in 2014.

In negotiations earlier this year, Hamas proposed to reveal information on the bodies of two soldiers, in addition to giving intel on two captive Israelis it alleges are soldiers.

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