The Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, expressed his firm opposition to releasing Palestinian prisoners as part of a potential Gaza ceasefire agreement with the resistance movement Hamas.
Smotrich described the release of Palestinian inmates as a “terrible and horrific event,” adding, “I will not agree to it, a red line must be drawn.”
He referenced the 2011 exchange of Hamas’s now leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. In October 2011, Hamas freed Shalit in exchange for Israel releasing 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, including Sinwar.
“We saw what happened in the deal for Gilad Shalit. We released Yahya Sinwar and we see what we got in return. With what logic will we release the next Yahya Sinwar and endanger thousands more Israelis?” Smotrich said.
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Britain's new Foreign Secretary David Lammy will press for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages during a trip to Israel and occupied Palestinian territories, the British foreign office said.
ReplyDeleteMr Lammy will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and make the case for a "credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution", the British Foreign Office said in a statement.