GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- The office of Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said he contacted several Egyptian officials on Thursday evening on the fate of Palestinian hunger-strikers in Israeli jails.

Egypt assured Haniyeh they will work hard in order to ensure that the swap deal will not be breached, and to make an agreement to end the hunger strike, his office said.

An Egyptian-brokered prisoner swap deal in late 2011 saw Israel agree to release a total of 1,027 Palestinians in exchange for captive soldier Gilad Shalit.

Samer Issawi, who at 167 days is holding the longest hunger-strike of the prisoners, was arrested after his release in the prisoner exchange.

As of Dec. 1, 2012, there were 4,656 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 178 administrative detainees, Addameer prisoners group says.