Hamas has 133 hostages, 34 of them are already dead

#Hamas #hostages #dead

In Israel, the family members and their supporters of the abductees protested on Thursday morning for an agreement aimed at freeing the hostages taken to the Gaza Strip in the attack of the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas on October 7.

Demonstrators, including representatives of the families of the hostages, stopped traffic in both directions on Thursday morning on the Ajalon highway that runs through Tel Aviv, holding placards reading Either the kidnapped or Rafah.

At the same time, members of the women’s protest launched for the hostage deal placed pictures of the abductees in front of the Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem.

Entering Rafah means giving up the lives of the abductees. For half a year, we were promised that only a fight would bring back the abducted, but now we all understand that the only way to free those who can still be saved is through an agreement. We call on the prime minister and the cabinet: do not give in to the pressure of the extremists, who use the abductees as an excuse to continue the war. It’s time to choose life. Whoever left them to their fate must bring them back

— they announced in their statement.

There are still 133 people with Hamas who were abducted last October. According to Israeli intelligence reports, at least thirty-four of them are already dead.

“If the enemy launches a ground invasion against Rafah, we will stop the negotiations. The resistance does not negotiate under fire,” he announced Osama Hamdana Hamas leader told al-Manar television on Wednesday night.

The organization’s position is negative on the current proposal on ceasefire and prisoner exchange arrangements

Hamdan said about Israel’s latest proposal, which he said was the most lenient so far. “We want the war to stop immediately, but not at any price. There is no question of handing over the abducted persons, and there is a possibility that Israel will attack us again,” Hamas explained.

“We insist that it be clearly stated that the war will end,” he added.

“We have forwarded all our comments on the document to Egypt,” he said. Official Hamas spokesmen also said they were willing to continue negotiations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday that Israel will not accept Hamas’s demand for an end to the war and will definitely launch an attack on Rafah.

Defense Minister Joáv Galant spoke at night with American Defense Minister Lloyd Austin about the ongoing negotiations for the release of the abductees, the provision of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and the planned operation against Rafah.

A Pentagon spokesman said Lloyd Austin told Galant that the Rafah operation must include plans to evacuate the more than one million Gazan civilians who have fled there and provide humanitarian aid.