Hamas’s armed wing has announced that it is ready to release hostages captured during the October 7 attacks in return for all Palestinian prisoners currently held in Israeli 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, Agence France-Presse reports.

“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,” he added.

The Israeli reports that some 229 hostages are currently being held in Gaza.