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Hamas not to guarantee future of prisoners released from Israeli jails: official

16 October 2011 01:19 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A senior Hamas official said on Saturday that his movement hasn’t given any guarantees over the future of the prisoners who will be released according to a prisoner swap deal reached with Israel four days ago, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Salah el-Bardaweel, a Gaza-based Hamas leader told Xinhua that "We haven’t given any guarantees concerning the prisoners, either for those who will go back their homes in the West Bank and Gaza or those who will be deported out of the Palestinian territories, the conflict is not over yet and there are no guarantees to stop resistance."

Israel and Hamas leaders announced Tuesday that they had reached a deal on releasing Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held captive in the Gaza Strip since June 2006, for the release of 1,000 Palestinian male and 27 female prisoners from the Israeli jails.

On Saturday, Israeli negotiators and Hamas leaders met indirectly in Cairo with Egyptian mediation to put the final touches on when and where the prisoner exchange will be held.

The senior Hamas official refused to give any details on Shalit ’s health conditions, adding that the movement will keep a secret until the last moment when the soldier is handed over and the prisoners are released.

Asked about the implementation of the deal, al-Bardaweel said the prisoners who will be deported either back to the Gaza Strip or abroad "will be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and then will be brought to the Gaza Strip by buses, at the same time when the soldier is handed over."

"The ICRC will also receive the prisoners that will be released and go to their homes in the West Bank. They will be gathered at Ofer jail there before they are handed to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and go to their homes," said al-Bardaweel.

Meanwhile, an ICRC spokesman in Gaza said that the international organization offered its services to both sides, Israel and the Palestinians "to facilitate the process of the prisoner exchange," adding that the ICRC is holding contacts with the two sides.

Meanwhile, Ezzat al-Resheq, a senior Hamas leader based in Damascus told a news website closed to Hamas that his movement had succeeded to reduce the number of the prisoners who would be expelled from the Palestinian territories from 200 to 40.