Smotrich: will not agree to the release of Palestinian prisoners in any agreement with Hamas

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has expressed his rejection of the release of Palestinian prisoners as part of any possible ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

According to Israel Today newspaper who quoted Smotrich on Monday as describing the release of Palestinian prisoners as “a terrible and terrible event, and I’ll not agree to it, and a red line must be set”.

Israel estimates there are 120 Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip, while Hamas announced that more than 70 of them were killed in indiscriminate raids by the Israel, which holds at least 9,500 Palestinians in its prisons.

Referring to a previous prisoner swap, Smotrich said, “We saw what happened in the deal of (former Israeli prisoner of Hamas Gilad) Shalit… We’ve released (Hamas head in Gaza) Yahya Sinwar, and we see what we got”.

Denouncing, he asked, “By what logic will we release the next Yahya Sinwar and put thousands more Israelis at risk?”

In October 2011, Hamas released Shalit in exchange for Israel release of 27,000 Palestinian prisoners from its prisons, including Sinwar.

Smotrich, leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, added, “I’ll oppose it, and I’ll not be there even if I end my political career”.

“If there are no red lines, you have no right to be in politics”.

He considered that “the security establishment decided to go to an illegal deal at any cost, they talk about a deal that returns 20 kidnapped and abandons the rest, and this will stop the war, there are no red lines”.

With the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the United States, Palestinian factions in Gaza and Israel have been stalled indirect negotiations for months to conclude a ceasefire and prisoner exchange.

Hamas affirms its readiness to deal positively with any deal that secures a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip after the end of the war, the exchange of prisoners, and the provision of relief to the Palestinians of the Strip, but mediation efforts are hampered by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on not stopping the war.