A senior Hamas leader said Monday that his movement won’t disclose any information about the two Israeli soldiers being held captive in Gaza before Israel frees all of the 2011 Gilad Shalit-deal prisoners who have been re-detained.
Speaking at a Hamas’ festival commemorating the movement’s 28th anniversary, Mahmoud Zahhar said that “we won’t say a single word about the destiny of [the captured] Israeli soldiers before Israel frees all prisoners rearrested after they were freed as part of the Shalit-deal."
Zahhar added that Hamas would "set the terms of any future prisoner swap deal."
A Palestinian Bedouin citizen of Israel is believed to have been held in Gaza since April, and a Jewish Israeli of Ethiopian descent has reportedly been held in Gaza since September 2014, although details of their exact whereabouts remain vague.
In June, a Hamas leader made a similar statement, announcing that that talks would only take place with Israel regarding an exchange deal after Israel releases Palestinians who have been rearrested, despite being released in past prisoner swaps.
On Dec. 3, Israel's High Court rejected an appeal against the re-sentencing of seven Palestinian prisoners previously released in the 2011 Galit Shalit prisoner exchange deal to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was being held captive in Gaza.
In 2011, a group of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners were freed by Israel under the terms of the deal.
Israel exiled 163 of the prisoners to the Gaza Strip and 40 more to other countries in the region in the swap deal to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was being held captive in Gaza.
More than 70 of those released have been re-detained since the start of Israel's military offensive on the Gaza Strip in 2014.
