By World Israel News Staff
Hamas will only provide a full list of hostages held in the Gaza Strip after a ceasefire is agreed upon and implemented in the coastal enclave, a spokesman for the terror group said Wednesday night.
Speaking with the London-based Qatari-owned Al-Araby Al-Jadeed outlet, an unnamed senior Hamas official pushed back on claims by Israel that the group has consistently refused to provide a detailed list of the remaining captives and their condition.
The official told the news agency that Hamas has already handed over whatever information it has on hostages held by its operatives, but emphasized that information regarding captives held by other terror groups, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, remains scant, due to the war.
Denying claims that Mohammed Sinwar, commander of Hamas’ military wing, has refused to provide details regarding the condition of Israeli captives, the official said that it was simply “impossible” to gather all of the information requested by Israel so long as the “situation” continues in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas has held talks, he claimed, with other Gaza-based terror groups, but added that a complete hostage list could not be drawn up until a ceasefire deal is reached and put into effect.
Israel’s negotiating team left Doha, Qatar this week, after failing to reach a breakthrough in talks with Hamas.
According to the Hamas official cited in Wednesday’s report, one of the main remaining stumbling blocks in the talks is issue of “high-profile” jailed terrorists.
As part of a deal to release Israeli hostages, Israel would free hundreds of jailed Palestinian terrorists.
However, Hamas has demanded that Israel release some prominent terrorist figures, including those convicted of murder, as part of such a deal.
Israel has thus far refused to agree to free Marwan Barghouti, terrorist mastermind from the Second Intifada, along with Hassan Salameh, Ahmad Sa’adat, Abbas al-Sayed, and others whose release Hamas has sought.
