If Israel does not comply with the terms of the Shalit prisoner swap deal with Hamas, there are no grounds for a new agreement, a senior Hamas leader said.

Speaking to the Shehab News Agency, the group’s deputy head, Mousa Abu Marzouk, said: “When Israel releases prisoners who were detained without cause, we can talk about a new deal”.

Remarking on international moves to break the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip, Abu Marzouk said that his movement does not oppose meeting with anyone.

Hamas's Musa Abu Marzouk: Israel has failed in restricting activities of Hamas in Turkey. Turkey has failed to end Gaza blockade.

— Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) July 14, 2016

He added that the movement’s leadership had met several times with former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

MEMO reported Abu Marzouk commenting on the Israeli-Turkish reconciliation and its impact on the Gaza Strip, saying that the occupation could not achieve its goals by isolating Hamas in Turkey and Turkey could not break the siege, therefore, it had opted to solve some of the problems resulting from the blockade.

He pointed out that the Turkish-Israeli agreement will have a positive effect on the Gaza Strip in the fields of electricity, water, reconstruction and health, and this will ease the blockade.

Abu Marzouk described Turkey’s bid to break the siege as “noble”.

(MEMO, PC)