Al-Arish – Ma’an – Members of the Hamas delegation sent to Damascus to discuss the Shalit prisoner release deal returned to Gaza on Thursday morning at dawn, according to Egyptian security sources.

Egyptian security sources told Ma’an that the Egyptian authorities imposed secrecy on the delegation’s return through the Rafah border crossing, which included senior Hamas officials Mahmoud Az-Zahhar, Khaled Abu Sido, Issam Rabbah, and Ashraf Saleh.

Hamas leaders from Gaza were in Damascus on Tuesday after holding talks in Cairo with a German official who is mediating in the indirect negotiations with Israel.

In Damascus, the Hamas delegation met with senior-most leader Khalid Mash’al and other top Hamas figures who are based their in exile, reportedly discussing whether to go forward with a deal in which resistance groups in Gaza would release caputred Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit held in the Strip in return for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.