The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the terrorist group Hamas, announced this Thursday (15) that one of its terrorists killed an Israeli hostage held in Gaza out of “revenge”.
The terrorist allegedly killed the hostage shortly after receiving news that his two children had died in an alleged attack by the Israeli Army.
“After investigating the killing of one of the enemy’s prisoners by his guard, it was discovered that he acted out of revenge, going against his orders, after receiving news that his two sons had been martyred in one of the enemy’s massacres,” Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman, terrorist Abu Obeida, explained in a statement on Thursday.
Obeida stressed that the killing of the hostage “does not represent ethics or religious teachings on the treatment of prisoners,” and promised to “strengthen instructions” after two similar incidents.
Hamas’s military wing reported three days ago that one of the Israeli prisoners was shot dead by his guard, in circumstances that they would investigate; and that two other hostages were also injured after being shot by their captors, in a separate “incident.”
The terrorist group said on Monday (12) that “efforts were being made to save their lives”, but did not clarify whether they died or not.
“We hold the enemy fully responsible for all the suffering and dangers faced by its prisoners due to its blatant disregard for all humanitarian and moral standards and its brutal genocide against our people,” Abu Obeida said.
Shortly after its spokesman’s statement, the Al-Qassam Brigades posted on its Telegram channel a photograph of an apparently dead man, wrapped in a bloody white sheet, along with the message: “Your brutality is an imminent danger to your prisoners.”
Regarding the killing of the hostage and the two other injuries, the Israeli army said on Monday (12) that it does not have “any intelligence information that would allow it to refute or confirm Hamas’ claims”.
Of the 251 hostages kidnapped on October 7 during Hamas’ attacks on Israel, 111 remain in the enclave, at least 39 of them dead, Israel has been able to confirm – more than 70, according to Hamas – while there are still four other hostages kidnapped earlier, two of them dead.
Of the total number of hostages, four were released by Hamas in October; seven were rescued by the army – one soldier in October, two in Rafah in February and four in Nuseirat in June – while the bodies of 24 hostages were recovered, three of whom were mistakenly killed by Israeli troops in December in Shujaiya.
Since the start of the war, Israel and Hamas have only reached a one-week truce agreement in late November, which allowed the release of 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.