A senior Hamas official yesterday called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to count his soldiers and stop misleading the families of the missing ones, Safa news agency reported.
In a statement broadcast by Al-Aqsa TV, Hamas said: “Netanyahu should closely check his soldiers. He should stop misleading the families of missing soldiers.”
Previously, the head of Hamas’s Political Bureau Khalid Meshaal said that his movement would never hold any deal or swap with the Israeli occupation unless it completely commits to previous pledges.
In response to a question regarding whether Israel is forcing Hamas to give information about the soldiers its military wing captured during last year’s Israeli war on the Strip, Meshaal said: “Your brothers are experts at negotiating. Do not be worried about the details.”
He added that his movement would double efforts to force the occupation to liberate the prisoners. “Hamas prioritises the issue of the Palestinian prisoners,” he said.
Hamas member Khalil Al-Hayya added: “We will not give any information on the matter [of the captured soldiers]… Al-Qassam Brigades have the ability to free all of the prisoners.”
On Palestinian Prisoner Day last week, Al-Qassam spokesman Abu-Obaida pledged to liberate all Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
During last summer’s Israeli offensive on Gaza, Hamas announced it captured an Israeli soldier in central Gaza, however Israel said another was missing in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu has since pledged to get the soldiers’ back.