'Israeli captives to be returned only as part of prisoner exchange deal'

A senior Hamas official on Thursday dismissed Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman's call on Hamas to return Israeli captives in exchange for Israeli assistance in stabilizing the Gaza Strip's dire economic situation, saying the captives will be released only as part of an exchange deal.

In Thursday's interview with the new Arabic-language website launched by the Office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Lieberman said, "Once Hamas relinquished [terror] tunnels and rockets, we will be the first to help them build a seaport and an airport, as well as industrial zones in Kerem Shalom and Erez [crossings]. We can create 40,000 jobs for the people of Gaza immediately, if Hamas would relinquish its call for the destruction of Israel, relinquish the tunnels, the rockets, and of course -- first and foremost -- return our soldiers bodies and the Israelis it's holding captives."

Lieberman was referring to Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul and Lt. Hadar Goldin, who were killed in the Gaza Strip in separate battles during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014, and Ethiopian Israeli Avera Mengistu and Bedouin Hisham al-Sayed, both suffering from mental health issues, who crossed into Gaza willingly in 2014 and 2015 and were captured by Hamas.

Top Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar, however, countered the Israeli defense minister's call, saying, "Release the Palestinian prisoners, and you will receive your captives in return."

Speaking with the Gaza-based newspaper Palestine Al Yawm, al-Zahar said, "We say -- release the heroic Palestinian mujahideen of all factions from your prisons as a condition for the release of the Israeli soldiers."

Commenting on Lieberman's remarks that Israel was willing to help the Palestinians rehabilitate their economy, the Hamas hard-liner said, "If we wanted to turn Gaza into Singapore, we would have done it ourselves. We don't need favors from anyone. We care about our prisoners more than they [Israel] care about their soldiers."