Hamas' armed wing said on Monday that since June the group has been operating under new instructions on how to handle hostages should Israeli forces approach their locations in Gaza.
Abu Ubaida, the spokesman of the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, gestures as he speaks during an anti-Israel military show in the southern Gaza Strip November 11, 2019. Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Hamas' armed wing said on Monday that since June the group has been operating under new instructions on how to handle hostages should Israeli forces approach their locations 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 had been shot dead by their captors as Israel forces got close.
Abu Ubaida, spokesperson for Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades, did not provide details on what the instructions were. He said his group holds Israel responsible for the hostages' deaths.
The new instructions, Ubaida said, were given to guards of hostages 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 to free prisoners through military pressure, instead of 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, the Hamas armed wing published a pre-recorded video of one of the six dead hostages, urging Netanyahu to conclude a deal to free them, saying she feared she could die in captivity. The date of when the video was recorded was unclear.
Netanyahu said in a press conference on Monday that the hostages had been shot in the back of the head, and promised that Hamas would pay a heavy price.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Netanyahu's accusations against Hamas was an attempt to escape responsibility for their death, adding that his threats to its leaders didn't frighten them.
"Netanyahu killed the six prisoners and he is determined to kill the remaining ones. The Israelis should choose between Netanyahu or the deal," said Abu Zuhri
Israel and Hamas have failed to reach a deal that would end the war and see the release of Israeli and foreign hostages held in Gaza in return for many Palestinians jailed by Israel.
Hamas wants any agreement to end the war and get Israeli forces out of Gaza while Netanyahu says the war can only end once Hamas is defeated.
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Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim told the Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that "the Houthis' operation to bomb Tel Aviv is a natural result of the Israeli entity's invasion of the entire region."
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