The group’s navy wing confirms the information after an investigation though it doesn’t state when the captives died.
The navy wing of the Palestinian group Hamas says seven extra captives held within the Gaza Strip have died because of Israel’s bombardment of the besieged enclave.
Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for Hamas’s Qassam Brigades, made the assertion on the Telegram app on Friday.
The group mentioned it confirmed the information following investigations carried out over the previous few weeks after it had misplaced contact with the fighters who had been holding the captives.
Hamas seized about 250 Israelis and foreigners throughout its October 7 assaults on southern Israel, of whom about 130 are believed to nonetheless be held captive.
The Qassam Brigades mentioned three of the captives talked about in Friday’s assertion had been recognized, but it surely didn’t make clear when the seven had died.
The group mentioned the whole variety of captives killed because of Israeli navy operations “could have exceeded” 70.
‘Second precedence’ for Israel
The deaths of the captives present that Israel’s authorities considers them a “secondary precedence”, Omar Ashour, a professor of safety and navy research on the Doha Institute for Graduate Research, advised Al Jazeera.
“The [Israeli military’s] first precedence is to destroy the armed wing of Hamas and the opposite Palestinian factions, to undermine them in any method, even when it prices the lives of among the hostages,” Ashour mentioned.
Friday’s reported deaths additionally point out that Israel’s conflict technique just isn’t reaching its goals, he mentioned, including: “We’re within the 147th day of the conflict, and there are increasingly hostages dying, nearly all of them by Israeli hearth.”
Throughout a Qatari-mediated weeklong truce in November, 105 captives have been launched in trade for 150 Palestinian girls and youngsters held in Israeli prisons.
“The one strategy to launch the hostages safely is the best way it was carried out earlier than – by means of some form of negotiations. The Israeli authorities is aware of that/ … They only don’t need to admit it,” Ashour mentioned.
Truce talks ongoing
Israel’s conflict on Gaza has killed at the least 30,228 Palestinians, in accordance with the Gaza Ministry of Well being. The loss of life toll in Israel from the October 7 assaults stands at 1,139.
Egyptian, Qatari and United States mediators are at the moment scrambling to lock down a brand new truce.
In phone talks on Thursday, the three international locations’ leaders set out what a ceasefire deal might seem like, the White Home mentioned.
“The leaders underscored that the discharge of hostages would lead to a right away and sustained ceasefire in Gaza over a interval of at the least six weeks,” the White Home mentioned.
Nonetheless, Israel’s Walla information web site, citing a senior Israeli official, reported that Israel has advised Egypt and Qatar that it’ll not proceed with ceasefire negotiations till Hamas sends it a listing of Israeli captives who stay alive within the Gaza Strip.
The official mentioned Israel can also be looking for a “critical reply” from Hamas on the variety of Palestinian prisoners it’s requesting be launched as a part of a possible deal, Walla reported.
