As Israel Defence Forces entered new phase of war in Gaza and launched their heaviest bombardment to aid ground troops, a Hamas spokesperson has reportedly said that they will releases hostages but in exchange, Israel will have to free all the Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida, in a statement released by Hamas-run Al-Aqsa television channel, said, “The price to pay for the large number of enemy hostages in our hands is to empty the (Israeli) prisons of all Palestinian prisoners.”
Hamas has been holding more than 225 hostages it abducted during the brutal October 7 attack on southern Israel. More than 1,400 people, including children, women and foreign nationals, were also killed in the attack that triggered the ongoing battle in Gaza.
The Hamas statement comes amid Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s likely meeting with the family members of Israeli hostages.
After Israel expanded its ground operations last night, the concerned families demanded to see the prime minister.
The Israeli military has intensified it’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip along with a ground operation to “destroy” Hamas and secure the hostages.
The IDF said, “returning the abductees home is a supreme national effort. And all our activities, operational, intelligence, are aimed at realising the goal”.
So far, Hamas has released four hostages – an American mother and her daughter on October 20 and two Israeli women on Monday.
Earlier today, the Palestinian militant group had also said that it was trying to find eight Russian-Israeli dual citizen hostages to free them on Moscow’s request.