AT A MINIMUM...:

Al-Zahar stressed the necessity to work to free the prisoners, noting that Hamas wants a balanced exchange deal that achieves its ultimate goal to release the captured and to prevent the occupation from achieving gains at the expense of the Palestinian prisoners.

He continued: "Now the occupation can find mediators more than before. However, we do not want this file to be used as a bargaining chip by any of the Israeli parties in the course of the formation of the new government at the expense of others, nor manipulated by the occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an attempt to rise in popularity at the expense of the prisoners."

Al-Zahar asserted that Hamas is requiring a certain degree of urgency in handling the issue in order to achieve the principle goal of releasing the prisoners, adding: "We aspire for having our prisoners back home, and we are willing to pay the required cost for their return by releasing the Israeli detainees and the soldiers' corpses, or other things at our disposition (at the disposition of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades)."

He continued: "We are waiting for the occupation to take positive steps, and once we make sure that good intentions are being established on the ground, we will announce it."

Al-Zahar indicated: "It is logical to study the occupation's proposal, and whether the Israeli side is serious enough to convince us to engage with this file. On the other hand, we need to examine the general circumstances and the degree of its suitability, and our terms if we decided to proceed with the deal, taking into account the detainees with the utmost priority, including the sick and the elderly, as well as the names and the means at our disposal to conclude the exchange deal."

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