The release of 20 female Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jail is "a serious step on the path towards an honorable deal," said Hamas prime minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh Sunday during a reception ceremony held in the Gaza Strip for Roda Habib, who was the 20th prisoner released
as part of the deal
negotiated between Hamas
and Israel
in exchange for a video of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Haniyeh said that the release of prisoners is a national obligation of the Gaza Strip government and of the resistance organizations. "We bless ourselves, our people, the prisoners, and their families on this day," said the Hamas prime minister, who also thanked the Egyptian and German mediators who helped broker the deal.
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After the video deal went through, Haniyeh himself said that it was a great victory for the Palestinian resistance. He expressed his hope that "the release of the female prisoners would represent a step forward towards an honorable deal." According to him, "This is an achievement for the Palestinian factions that captured Shalit."
Haniyeh also spoke of the disturbances
on the Temple Mount. "The extremist Israeli attack on the al-Aqsa Mosque continues. The threats to evacuate the worshippers under the threat of weapons and throwing stun grenades into the mosques continue. We say to those in the mosques and the residents of Jerusalem, 'Don't give up on defending Jerusalem.'"
Haniyeh took this opportunity to level an attack against the Palestinian Authority for its decision
to withdraw the Goldstone Report
for the UN's Human Rights Council.
"This is a decision lacking national responsibility that represents trafficking in the blood of our children, a decision that encourages the enemy to continue its crimes against us," he said.
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