The armed wing of the Palestinian terror movement Hamas warned today that Israeli hostages will return from the Gaza Strip in coffins if Israel continues military pressure. It also said that the hostage-takers had received new instructions on how to proceed if approached by Israeli soldiers, AFP reported.
“Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to free captives through military coercion instead of reaching a deal means they will return to their families in coffins,” the spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, Abu Ubaydah, said in a statement. He added that the hostage guards received ninstructions on how to proceed when approached by Israeli soldiers. The statement comes after the Israeli army found the bodies of six hostages in a tunnel in the Gaza Strip over the weekend. According to the army, the kidnappers murdered them shortly before the soldiers arrived.
According to The Times of Israel (ToI) news site, Hamas’ latest statement he indirectly admitted that he had killed the six hostages. In a statement, he said the new instructions were issued following Israel’s successful hostage rescue in Nusayrat in June, when Israeli forces freed four hostages alive. Hamas said at the time that a military operation in the Nusayrat refugee camp and the surrounding area had left more than 200 Palestinians dead.
Abu Ubaydah threatened to kill the Israeli hostages at the beginning of the war. Now, according to ToI, Hamas has apparently ordered its members to who are guarding the hostages to kill them if Israeli soldiers approach.
According to Reuters, the armed wing of Hamas later released a video of one of the six hostages that the Israeli army found in a tunnel under Rafah over the weekend. In the undated recording, the woman calls on Netanyahu to strike a deal for their release. He also states that he is afraid that he will die in captivity.
Netanyahu said at a press conference today that the hostages were shot in the back of the head. He promised that Hamas would pay a heavy price for their deaths.
A senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, said according to Reuters that Netanyahu was trying to escape responsibility for the hostages’ deaths.
“Netanyahu killed six prisoners and is determined to kill the rest. Israelis should choose between Netanyahu and the deal,” he stated, adding that Hamas officials are not afraid of threats from Israel.
