Hamas says it is on the verge of starting its own investigation into whether it committed war crimes during Israel's war on Gaza.

The probe is one of the main requirements of the recent UN-backed Goldstone Report into the conflict, which took place during last December and January. Most of the report's criticism was reserved for Israel.

In a rare interview, Ismail Haniya, the deposed Palestinian prime minister and the senior Hamas official in Gaza, told Al Jazeera's Zeina Awad that he is still hopeful of exchanging Gilad Shalit, a captured Israeli soldier, for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Haniya outlined what he would personally be willing to do for reconciliation with the rival Fatah movement. He also addressed allegations that Hamas tortured political opponents and suppressed their political rights.