A spokesman for Hamas' military wing said tonight (Saturday night) that it had been decided by the terrorist organization that the next prisoner exchange deal would be completed only on the condition of the release of the captured prisoners.
As you may recall, four of the prisoners were apprehended over the weekend, but his remarks apply to the other two as well, whether they are apprehended or not.
During his speech, a spokesman for the a-Zadin al-Qassam Brigades said that "the detention of the prisoners will not obscure their actions and will not obscure the degree of shame that befell the Zionist security establishment."
Abu Obeida added that "if the heroes have released themselves this time, underground, then we promise families that they will soon be released with the help of God from above the earth."
Hence, a spokesman for the terrorist organization promised that "the heroes of the Freedom Tunnel will be released with their heads held high and the leadership of the Al-Qassam Brigades has decided that a prisoner exchange deal will be completed only through the release of these heroes."
Hamas stressed that this was a decision of the military arm and the resistance.
"We will bless the hands of the dear prisoners in their honorable intifada and tell them that we are with them and we will not give up on them and we will not allow the enemy to separate them."
Hamas' statement could be a "ladder" for the terrorist organization in terms of its demands as part of the negotiations on a prisoner exchange deal. This is in the "quality" of the prisoners who escaped and were caught.