Hamas won't release Israeli captives without 'real' deal

A senior official of the Islamic Hamas movement said that the Israelis who have been held captive in the Gaza Strip since 2014 won't be released until "a real prisoners swap deal" was reached.

"A real prisoners' exchange deal is the best way for the release of the captive Israelis" held by Hamas, the movement's spokesman in Gaza, Hazem Qassem told Xinhua news agency on Monday.

"Otherwise, the Zionist leadership (Israel) will be just selling illusions to the Israeli public," said Qassem, referring to the new Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz's remarks to the families of the Israeli captives.

Earlier in the day, Gantz met the families of four Israelis, two soldiers and two civil who are believed to have been held by Hamas militants since 2014.

In October 2011, Egypt brokered a prisoners' swap deal between Israel and Hamas, where Israel handed over 1,028 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of the Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit who was abducted in southern Gaza in 2006.

( With inputs from IANS )