by Shahar Klaiman
Ramallah-based Al-Ayyam daily cites Hamas official as saying the group seeks to have mediators pressure Israel into lifting more restrictions placed on the Strip.
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| Israel's missing civilians and fallen soldiers in Gaza, clockwise from top left: Oron Shaul, Hadar Goldin, Avera Mengistu, and Hisham al-Sayed | Photo: EPA. AFP |
Israel no longer conditions the issue of rehabilitating the Gaza Strip with information on Hamas-held captives in the Strip, an official with the terrorist group told the Ramallah-based Al-Ayyam daily on Saturday.
IDF Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul and Lt. Hadar Goldin were killed in the Gaza Strip in separate battles during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014. Ethiopian Israeli Avera Mengistu and Bedouin Israeli Hisham al-Sayed, both suffering from mental health issues, crossed into Gaza willingly in 2014 and 2015 and were captured by Hamas.
Since Israel's and Hamas last conflict in May, Jerusalem has conditioned any progress in talks to rebuild the coastal enclave on progress leading to a prisoner exchange deal.
According to the report, the official said that in recent days a series of restrictions imposed on the Gaza Strip have been lifted, including the possibility of importing construction materials and other materials that Israel has prevented from entering the Strip so far.
He said these measures had led to calm on the Gaza border in recent days.
Egyptian mediators further informed Hamas that Israel was "rolling back" its demand to link Gaza Strip's rehabilitation to a prisoner exchange deal, thus contributing to the de-escalation on the ground, he said.
Gaza's terrorist group plan to allow Egypt "time to pressure Israel into removing the rest of the restrictions," he said.
Shahar Klaiman
Source: https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/09/19/report-israel-unlinks-gazas-rehabilitation-from-progress-on-captives/
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