GAZA, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- A top Hamas leader Wednesday said his group would kidnap Israeli soldiers and exchange them for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
Mahmoud Azzahar, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza, told reporters Hamas had the ability to kidnap Israeli soldiers and had done so in 1989.
"Unfortunately, the bodies of kidnapped soldiers that were killed later were given back to Israel by some Palestinians without a price as a sign of good intentions," he said. "The kidnappings Hamas carried out in the past never failed. But they used to end tragically. Kidnapped soldiers and Hamas members were killed during rescue operations."
He also said the group would not have trouble transferring the technology for its rockets to the West Bank.
"The matter is not so difficult," he said. "Militants can really use all kinds of weapons in the West Bank, including rockets, to defend themselves."
He said his group did not rule out attacking Israeli civilians.
