Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
WASHINGTON DC, 19th Oct. Al-Qassam Brigades, armed wing of the Hamas militant group on Wednesday said that there were 200 to 250 Israeli captives in Gaza who were captured after the October 7 attack.
Abu Obaida, spokesperson of the Al-Qassam Brigades in a televised address said the Hamas is holding 200 prisoners, while “the rest are captured by other resistance factions in the Gaza Strip”.
He added that they cannot specify the exact number of hostages in the besieged enclave due to consistent Israeli bombardment.
Obaida stressed that the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least 22 Israelis, including Guy Olives, a Tel Aviv-based artist.
He noted that outsiders were not prisoners in Gaza, and they will be released when “the opportunity arises on the ground”.
The spokesman asserted that the Al-Qassam is “committed” to protecting them but warned that any foreign national serving with the Israeli military will be considered a “direct enemy”.
Former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal claimed that the militant group has “enough hostages”, including high ranking officers from the Gaza division of the Israeli Defense Forces to release thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
“One of this battle’s goals was to take Israeli soldiers and officers hostage to clear Zionist prisons from our own people,” Meshaal quoted in media as saying to Alaraby TV in a live interview on Monday
He added that Hamas will be dealing with civilians and foreign nationals differently.
“Military hostages have their own calculations, civilians and foreign nationals have others. Hamas leadership will deal with hostages in accordance with international and humanitarian law.”
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