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Hamas says no exchange of prisoners before Gaza ceasefire
Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, shelter at a tent camp, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, February 29, 2024.
An exchange of Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages in Gaza can only happen after a ceasefire, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said on Tuesday, as ceasefire talks in Cairo between Hamas, Egypt and Qatar continued with no sign of a breakthrough.
Hamdan, speaking at a press conference in Beirut, repeated his group's conditions for a deal; an end to Israel's military offensive, a withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and the return of displaced Palestinians to homes they have fled in other parts of Gaza.
