Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official in Beirut, told Lebanon’s LBC TV today, as reported by Times of Israel, that Hamas is still studying the Qatari-mediated hostage deal, but that Hamas insists on a permanent ceasefire for the hostage deal. A temporary ceasefire will not suffice: “There is no way that this will be acceptable to the resistance. We have tried temporary truces and it turned out that the Israelis don’t respect these truces but always violate them.”
Hamdan specified two particular Israeli prisoners, amongst the thousands needed to be released: Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti and the head of the PFLP Ahmad Saadat. Barghouti is of particular importance as a Palestinian Authority (PA) figure who had worked to make the Oslo Accords function, and is well-respected as a possible leader for the PA.
