Hamas senior leader and founding member of the terrorist organization's Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades military wing Saleh al-Arouri, said there would be no more hostage-prisoner swaps until after a complete ceasefire is implemented.
Arouri’s comments came in an interview with Al-Jazeera on Saturday. A portion of his remarks, which were delivered in Arabic, were later translated by the Middle East Media and Research Institute (MEMRI).
Several days after the October 7 massacre, Arouri appeared on Al-Jazeera, doubling down on the falsehood that Hamas did not target Israeli civilians and that Israel’s offensive on Gaza would prove weaker than Hamas’s defensive plan.
Hamas Senior Official Saleh Al-Arouri: The People in Gaza Support Us, Otherwise They Would Be Angry with Hamas; No More Prisoner Swap Deals before Final and Complete Ceasefire; The U.S. Is More Nazi and Fascist than the Zionist Entity #Hamas #Qatar #Gaza #Palestinians pic.twitter.com/mYc2qkjl7D
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) December 3, 2023
“The official and final position of the Hamas movement and the resistance is that there will be no more prisoner swaps before the end of the aggression, and before there is a final and complete ceasefire,” Arouri said.
Al-Arouri's home demolished
In late October, Israel demolished Arouri’s home in the West Bank. The Hamas leader had spent 17 years in Israeli jails, rising to prominence for his claim of responsibility for the kidnapping of Israeli teens Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaer, and Naftali Fraenkel in the West Bank in 2014.
Al Jazeera reported that the Hamas leader denied that the terror group still held women and children hostage, saying they only held male soldiers who were currently or had previously served in the IDF.
The Qatari state-run news giants additionally noted that Arouri also said he was open to exchanging the bodies of fallen Israeli soldiers for the bodies of killed terrorists, claiming that Hamas simply needed time to exhume the dead Israelis.
“We have said, since day one, that those Zionist prisoners would be exchanged for all the prisoners of the Palestinian people held by the occupation – and we are still saying this,” he said. “Let everybody know that the Zionist prisoners will not be released unless all of our prisoners are released, and only after there is a ceasefire.”
The arch-terrorist went on to say that the US was “morally bankrupt” on all matters pertaining to the Israel-Hamas war and that it was even more “Nazi and fascist” than Israel.
Arouri proceeded to affirm that Hamas had broad support from Palestinian society, claiming that if it did not have popular support, “our people (the Palestinians) would have been unable to bear all these sacrifices, and you would hear people who are angry with the resistance.”
In several videos from Gaza, including of interviews with Al Jazeera, residents of the Strip have expressed outrage at Hamas and its leaders, including cries of "May God hold you to account, Hamas!”