From Le Figaro with AFP
Published 52 minutes ago, updated 25 minutes ago
People show hostages kidnapped by Palestinian militants during the October 7 attack and currently held in the Gaza Strip during a vigil calling for government measures for their return in front of the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) in Jerusalem on November 7, 2023 be required. AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP
“We are ready to release them on humanitarian grounds if local security conditions are met,” said the spokesman for the military branch of Islamic Jihad.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad released a video on Thursday, November 9, of two Israeli hostages, a woman in her 70s and a young teenager, that it is allegedly holding in Gaza, saying it is ready to release them “if the Safety conditions are met”. “
In the video, the two hostages express their wish for a quick release to be reunited with their loved ones and criticize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s crisis management. Abu Hamza, under his pseudonym the spokesman for the military wing of Islamic Jihad, a group fighting alongside Hamas against Israel in the Gaza Strip, announced that Islamic Jihad was ready to take the septuagenarian hostage “for humanitarian and health reasons to release. . “We can no longer provide her with the care she needs due to a lack of fuel, electricity and basic means of survival.” Regarding the teenager, he said he was ready to release him “on humanitarian grounds and because of his age,” even if the occupiers’ prisons are full of Palestinian children.
“Our initiative will be implemented when security conditions on the ground are met to ensure the protection of our Palestinian people,” he said, adding that the lives of the hostages could be at risk from Israeli bombings.
“Psychological Terrorism”
Israeli media reported on this video and published a screenshot. The Israeli army described the program as “psychological terrorism of the worst kind.” Islamic Jihad’s spokesman confirmed that his group had been involved in the fighting alongside Hamas since the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. This was an attack of unprecedented proportions carried out by commandos of the Islamist movement on October 7th, in which more than 1,400 people were killed. According to the Israeli authorities, the majority of those on Israeli soil were civilians.
Almost 240 people, Israelis but also foreigners, were kidnapped in this attack and taken to the Gaza Strip, where they are being held hostage. Hamas’ military branch says it is holding around 200 hostages. The jihad spokesman said in the video that his group was also holding hostages, without specifying the number.
According to the Hamas Health Ministry, Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip have killed more than 10,800 people, mostly civilians, since October 7.
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