The Hamas terror group said in a statement Friday that it will not move living Israeli hostages out of areas in the Gaza Strip that the IDF has ordered to be evacuated in recent days, saying the Israeli government will be at fault if captives are killed.
The IDF has issued evacuation orders for the entire Rafah area, Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood, and other areas in the Strip’s north, some two and a half weeks after resuming fighting amid the collapse of a hostage-truce deal.
“Half of the living Israeli prisoners are located in areas which the Israeli occupation army has requested to be evacuated in recent days,” claimed Hudhaifa Kahlout — known by the nom de guerre Abu Obeida — the spokesman for Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.
“We have decided not to transfer these prisoners from these areas, and to keep them under strict security measures, which are extremely dangerous to their lives,” Abu Obeida said in his statement, which was issued in Arabic, Hebrew, and English.
He added that “if the enemy is concerned about the lives of these prisoners, they must immediately negotiate their evacuation or release.”
“The Netanyahu government bears full responsibility for the lives of the prisoners. Had they been concerned about them, they would have adhered to the agreement signed in January. Most of them would probably be in their homes today,” Abu Obeida added.
Hamas has previously said it would execute hostages if Israeli troops are seen approaching areas where they are being held.
In August, Hamas murdered six hostages in Rafah as Israeli forces were operating nearby.
The Hamas statement came hours after the military said that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir met on Friday with the families of several hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
Zamir has been meeting with the families of hostages once a week since he entered the role last month. The IDF said he is set to meet with additional families in the coming period.
During the meeting, Zamir told the families of the goals of the current offensive against Hamas in Gaza and “the IDF’s commitment to return the hostages, [which is] a supreme goal.”
Most hostage families, however, feel otherwise and have warned that the ongoing IDF offensive in Gaza endangers their loved ones.
Meanwhile, Jon Polin, whose son Hersh Goldberg-Polin was among the hostages murdered in the Gaza tunnel last August, panned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the ongoing war and his broader conduct as of late in a post to X on Friday.
“Not everything is political. Some things are simply human. The exemplary people of Israel deserve more. Do things with broad consensus. Bring back our 59 loved ones.
“Accept responsibility, say ‘I’m sorry,’ [establish] a national commission of inquiry, [advance] a fair sharing of national service,” Polin tweeted, without naming Netanyahu.
The prime minister has opposed a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack and has promised to usher through legislation codifying an exemption from mandatory military service for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students.
“Enough with the division, stop blaming, stop dividing, stop ignoring the will of the people, enough with the paranoid TikTok videos,” Polin said.
“Why vacation during war? We Israelis deserve better,” Polin said of Netanyahu’s decision to extend his trip to Budapest to spend the weekend in Hungary with his wife.