1 of 1 group demonstrates call for return of Hamas hostages Photo: BBC Group demonstrates call for return of Hamas hostages Photo: BBC
Family members of the hostages kidnapped from Israel by Hamas express concern about the Israeli military advance in Gaza.
The Missing Families Forum said the troops’ overnight entry into northern Gaza was “the worst night yet.”
They complained about the impact of a ground operation on the welfare of around 200 hostages to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met with the families on Saturday (October 28).
Netanyahu vowed to do everything he could to bring them home and said retrieving the hostages was a central part of the military’s goals.
After Netanyahu’s meeting with the families, Hamas said Israel must release all Palestinian prisoners to ensure the freedom of the hostages.
Netanyahu said the idea of a hostageforprisoner exchange deal had been discussed in Israel’s war cabinet, but declined to provide details.
The hostages were taken by Hamas gunmen during an unprecedented attack in southern Israel on October 7 that killed 1,400 people.
Prisoners held in Gaza include dozens of children and elderly people, as well as military personnel. According to the Israeli government, at least 135 are foreigners or dual nationals, including 54 Thais, 15 Argentines and two Britons.
Hamas considered a terrorist group by Israel, the United Kingdom and other powers has so far released four hostages following mediation from Qatar and Egypt.
Two elderly Israeli women were released on Monday and an American woman and her daughter were released on October 20.
Ahead of Friday night’s ground operation, there was speculation that Qatarbrokered talks over another release deal were going well.
But Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said Saturday there was “Hamas’ conscious desire to engage in cynical exploitation and psychological terrorism and to influence our population, which finds itself in such a delicate situation.”
“The most important thing is that we provide the information when we have it,” he added. “Repatriating the hostages home is a major national effort. And all of our operational and intelligence activities are aimed at achieving this goal.”
Released hostage Yocheved Lifschitz, an 85yearold woman who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz with her husband Oded, told reporters in Tel Aviv on Tuesday that she had “gone through hell.”
She described being hit by sticks while traveling to Gaza and ending up in a vast network of underground tunnels that “looked like a spider web.”
Lifschitz also stated that the majority of the hostages were “treated well.”
On Thursday, Hamas military wing spokesman Abu Ubaida said about 50 hostages had been killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
He provided no evidence and it was impossible for the BBC to verify the claim.
However, since the Israeli military announced that it had bombed Hamas tunnels, there is a possibility that the hostages were hit.