Gaza hostage guards operate under new directives: Hamas

CAIRO:

Hamas’ armed wing said on Monday that since June the group has been operating with new guidelines on how to handle hostages if Israeli forces approach their sites in Gaza.

The announcement comes days after the Israeli military recovered the bodies of six hostages from a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, saying they were killed by their captors as Israeli forces approached.

Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades, did not elaborate on the instructions. He said his group held Israel responsible for the deaths of the hostages.

The new instructions, Ubaida said, were given to hostage guards after a rescue operation by Israel in June. At that time, Israeli forces freed four hostages in a raid in which dozens of Palestinians, including women and children, were killed.

“Netanyahu’s insistence on freeing the prisoners through military pressure, rather than sealing a deal, means they will be returned to their families in shrouds. Their families must choose whether they want them dead or alive,” he said.

Later on Monday, Hamas’ armed wing released a pre-recorded video of one of the six dead hostages. It was unclear when the video was taken.

Netanyahu told a news conference on Monday that the hostages were shot in the back of the head and vowed that Hamas would pay a heavy price.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zohri said Netanyahu’s accusations against Hamas were an attempt to evade responsibility for their deaths.

“Netanyahu killed the six prisoners and is determined to kill the rest. Israelis will have to choose between Netanyahu or the deal,” Abu Zohri said.

Likewise, Ezzat El Rashq, a member of Hamas’s political office, said in a statement released by the group on Monday: “The hostages of the resistance can immediately return to their families, [one] Israel and Hamas have failed to reach an agreement that would end the war and release Israeli and foreign hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for many Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Hamas wants a deal to end the war and withdraw Israeli forces from Gaza, while Netanyahu says the war can only end when Hamas is defeated.