MK Ayman Odeh, the leader of the Hadash party, called on Israel to release all Palestinian Arab terrorists in its prisons after Hamas kidnapped dozens of Israelis and foreigners in its vicious assault on southern Israel on Saturday morning.

In an interview with 'Hala TV,' Odeh said that any attempt to circumvent the Palestinian Arab problem through normalization with Arab nations or other measures will not succeed, since, in his opinion, peace cannot be reached without the end of the "occupation" and the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel.

Referring to the terrorist attack by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Odeh said, "Without a shadow of a doubt, what happened is unprecedented in several aspects, and there is no doubt that the Israeli establishment is in a state of humiliation reminiscent of the Yom Kippur War and there is fear for the fate of the country."

"I say with a humane approach, we must remove all citizens from the circle of conflict and war, Palestinians and Jews alike," Odeh said. "This is an ethical and moral position and one must always strive for it, and in addition (it should be said that) the occupation and its continuation is the basic problem that must end in order to establish peace."

Regarding the abductees held by Hamas, Odeh said: "In my view, it is necessary with all our might to return every detainee through a prisoner exchange, and there are Palestinian prisoners in the occupation's prisons, including Palestinian children and women. It is necessary to release all Israeli-Palestinian prisoners from prisons and captivity in an exchange deal. This is an urgent and necessary step."

Odeh stated that he opposes the call of Hamas' leaders for the participation of Israeli Arabs in the struggle against Israel. "We have waged an honorable and responsible struggle since 1948 and so it must remain. Our position is that the occupation is the main problem and we are fighting politically and systematically to end it."

"I call on Arab and Jewish citizens of the State of Israel to behave responsibly and not be dragged into any attacks," Odeh said.

Odeh called the IDF's retaliatory strikes in Gaza "repeated crimes" saying that they "will not bring security", but security will be achieved through the end of the occupation and blockade and the conquest of the national rights of the Palestinian Arabs.

Odeh also called on the Israeli Arabs living in the mixed cities, the workers in the Jewish settlements and the Arabic students to behave carefully and wisely these days.

"We are in constant contact with the authorities in the cities involved so that there is no friction and so that they do not fall to the whims of the extremist groups as happened in May two and a half years ago."