AMMAN — On Wednesday, the Islamic Resistance
Movement, Hamas, denied Israeli media reports that negotiations are underway
between them and Israel over the prisoners' exchange, AmmanNet reported.
اضافة اعلان
"The resistance will remain faithful
to our heroic prisoners and will work tirelessly to liberate them by all
available means," Hamas said.
The Jerusalem Post quoted unnamed sources
within the Israeli security services saying that Jordan is sponsoring talks
between Israel and Hamas to exchange prisoners.
It said that Israel was seeking to recover
the bodies of two Israeli soldiers, Hadar Goldin and Oren Shaul, and two
Israeli civilians, Avraham Mengistu and Hisham Al-Sayed, who, it added, are
currently being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
In return, the
Jerusalem Post said that
Israel would release several Hamas prisoners who are serving long prison
sentences and transfer them to Jordan, where they will spend from 5–10 years in
a Jordanian prison.
Upon their release, the paper claimed, they
would be granted a Royal amnesty but would not be allowed to return to the West
Bank or Gaza and would instead remain outside the region.
Among the prisoners slated for transfer to
Jordan is Abdullah Barghouti, who was convicted and sentenced to 67 life
sentences and an additional 5,200 years in prison for his involvement in
attacks that resulted in the deaths of numerous Israelis and the injury of
hundreds of others during the second Intifada from 2000 to 2004, the paper
said.
The paper added that Israel would also
release the
bodies of Palestinians who have been involved in lethal attacks.
The paper's sources claimed that Israel
reached an agreement with Jordan on all the necessary details, including the
fact that the prisoners on the list hold Jordanian passports, which allows the
Jordanian authorities to imprison them according to Jordanian law.
Hamad denied that such talks are being
held, telling the Palestinian Quds News Agency on Tuesday that such claims are
"completely inaccurate and unfounded".
Jordan News attempted to reach various
government officials, but none gave a comment.
According to a source close to the new
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the details of the plan to release
Hamas prisoners and secure the release of bodies of captured soldiers and
civilians held by Hamas in Gaza are known to Netanyahu.
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