Deputy Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri clarified in an interview with Al-Jazeera that the murderous terrorist organization will not release hostages as long as the IDF conducts fighting in the Gaza Strip.
_x000D_“There will be no exchange of prisoners until the end of the war and the cessation of the fire,” he stated.
_x000D_Al-Arouri noted that Hamas is not opposed to exchanging bodies of terrorists for bodies of Israelis held in the Gaza Strip.
_x000D_“We are able to exchange bodies, but we need time to retrieve bodies of Israelis,” he claimed.
_x000D_Israel announced on Friday morning the renewal of fighting in Gaza, after the Hamas terror organization violated the terms of the operational pause.
_x000D_The announcement came after the original ceasefire ended at 7:00 a.m. and after Hamas failed to provide a new list of hostages that would have been freed on Friday evening.
_x000D_In addition, Hamas fired rocket barrages towards southern Israel early in the morning.
_x000D_Over the weekend, the IDF struck over 400 terror targets throughout Gaza.
