Israel requests Germany’s help to reach prisoners swap deal with Hamas

By Abdelraouf Arna'out

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israel requested Germany’s help Wednesday in reaching a prisoners swap deal with the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

The request was made during a meeting between Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, according to a statement by the Israeli legislative body.

Levy, who has been in Germany since Monday, will participate in a ceremony marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day later Thursday.

He said the request was made in light of recent success by German mediators in reaching deals.

Germany made an important contribution to the Egyptian-mediated prisoners' swap between Hamas and Israel in 2011.

In April 2016, Hamas said it had taken four Israeli soldiers captive. It withheld their identities except for Oron Shaul, an Israeli soldier missing since the 2014 Israeli offensive on Gaza.

At least 4,650 Palestinians are held by Israel, according to the Palestinian Prisoner Society.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar