Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh Threatens To Kidnap More Israelis if No Prisoner Swap Agreement

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has threatened that if Israel does not come to an agreement on a prisoner exchange with the terror group that runs the Gaza Strip then it will kidnap more Israelis. “The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (military wing of Hamas) are holding four prisoners inside Gaza, and if Israel is not convinced by that to reach a deal, then we will add to our stash,” Haniyeh said. His comments were published on Hamas’ English-language website on Monday and were said to have been made during an interview with the Al Jazeera news network. He added that the prisoner swap must include the six Palestinians who escaped in September from Israel’s maximum-security Gilboa prison. His comments come after two rockets were fired from Gaza toward the densely populated Tel Aviv in central Israel, which landed in the Mediterranean Sea. Israel has rejected Hamas’ explanation that the rockets fired as a result of an electrical malfunction caused by bad weather.  Hamas is believed to be holding captive two Israelis who entered Gazan territory,  Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, and the remains of two Israeli soldiers,  Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul.