Israel-Hamas war latest update: Israel has rejected a Hamas claim that it refused to receive two more hostages the Palestinian militant outfit offered to release on humanitarian grounds, terming it a “false propaganda”.
Abu Ubaida, a Hamas spokesperson, Saturday said that they informed Qatar about the militant group’s intention to release two more hostages on Friday, the same day when they freed American mother Judith Tai Ranaan and her daughter Natalie.
Ubaida claimed Hamas was ready to released two more hostages on Sunday using the same procedures but Israel declined to receive them.
Reacting to the militant outfit’s claim, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, “We will not refer to false propaganda by Hamas” and added that Israel “will continue to act in every way to return all the kidnapped and missing people home.”
Hamas militants murdered more than 1,400 people, including children, women and foreign nationals and kidnapped around 210 people during its brutal October 7 assault in southern Israel.
In response to the Hamas brutalities, Israel declared a war against the Palestinian militant outfit in Gaza and launched tens of hundreds air strikes. More than 4,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes since October 7.
The release of two American hostages was reportedly secured after Qatar’s mediation. However, Qatar has not commented on Hamas’ claim of additional hostages release offer.