Sharjah24 – AFP: Hamas's armed wing said Saturday it was ready to release the hostages it abducted during its shock attack on October 7 if Israel freed all Palestinians held in its prisons.
"The price to pay for the large number of enemy hostages in our hands is to empty the (Israeli) prisons of all Palestinian prisoners," Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida said in a statement broadcast by the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa television channel.
"If the enemy wants to close this file of detainees in one go, we are ready for it. If it wants to do it step-by-step, we are ready for that too."
Some 229 hostages are being held by militants in the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli army.
On Thursday, Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said "almost 50" hostages had been killed in Israeli bombing raids in the three weeks since the war began.
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