Hamas Says Has ‘No Ability’ To Release Even 40 Israeli Hostages, Suggesting Most Murdered

2024-04-09 08:00:39

Hamas has rejected the latest U.S.-backed ceasefire offer to free some of Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian terrorists, saying that it has “no ability” to free even 40 out of 133 captives believed in its control — an chilling admission suggesting that the terrorist group has killed most of the hostages taken to Gaza six months ago.

“Hamas breached the understandings that were reached in Paris and which stipulated that 40 hostages would be released, and is claiming that it knows the location of less than 40 hostages who are alive, Channel 12 News reported on Monday,” the Israeli broadcaster Arutz Sheva reported [emphasis added].

The remaining hostages presumed to be in Hamas captivity include women, children, elderly, as well as five U.S. nationals. “The captivity figure includes 19 women, 10 people over the age of 75, and two children,” The New York Post noted Tuesday. “In addition, US officials say five of the remaining hostages are American citizens, though it is unclear whether they are alive or dead.”

Hamas made the admission after Israel on Sunday withdrew all troops from southern Gaza — amid growing pressure from the Biden White House on Jerusalem to end or scale down the military operation, and reports of a planned Israeli offensive on the last remaining Hamas stronghold of Rafah.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday night vowed to bring back the remaining hostages and destroying Hamas terrorist fighting force in Rafah. “We are constantly working to achieve our goals, first and foremost the release of all our hostages and achieving a complete victory over Hamas,” Netanyahu said.

Without specifying a date, he added that an Israeli “victory requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there. It will happen – there is a date.”

The Reuters reported Hamas’s rejection:

Hamas rejected an Israeli ceasefire proposal made at talks in Cairo, a senior Hamas official said on Monday, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a date was set for an invasion of Rafah, Gaza’s last refuge for displaced Palestinians.

Israel and Hamas sent teams to Egypt on Sunday for talks that included Qatari and Egyptian mediators as well as CIA Director William Burns.

Burn’s presence underlined rising pressure from Israel’s main ally the U.S. for a deal that would free Israeli hostages held in Gaza and get aid to Palestinian civilians left destitute by six months of conflict.

But senior Hamas official Ali Baraka told Reuters: “We reject the latest Israeli proposals that the Egyptian side informed us of. The politburo met today and decided this.”

Another Hamas official had earlier told Reuters that no progress had been made in the negotiations.

“There is no change in the position of the occupation (Israel) and therefore, there is nothing new in the Cairo talks,” the Hamas official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. “There is no progress yet.”

Gaza: IDF airstrike eliminates senior Hamas operative

Despite large-scale withdrawal, the IDF is continuing counter-terrorism operations across Gaza. The Israeli air force eliminated a senior Hamas terrorist, Hatem Alramery, who was overseeing terrorist group’s missile and rocket operations, the military disclosed Tuesday. In recent days, Hamas had fires several rocket barrages into Israel.

Another targeted Israeli airstrike killed an unnamed Hamas terrorist who took part in the October 7 massacre. “IAF aircraft eliminated a terrorist in Khan Yunis who participated in the October 7th massacre,” the IDF statement said

The Jerusalem Post reported:

IAF fighter jets eliminated the chair of Hamas’s Emergency Bureau in the Central Camps in Gaza on Monday night, the IDF announced on Tuesday.

The terrorist, Hatem Alramery, was killed in a strike with intel provided by the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate.

Alramery served as an operative in the al-Qassam Brigades, working on projectile launches within the Maghazi Battalion of the Central Camps.

IDF retaliates after Syrian army fires missile at Israel

Departing from its usual practice of not commenting on cross-border operations, the IDF on Tuesday admitted destroying hostile military targets inside Syria, a regime propped up by Iran and its proxy terrorist group Hezbollah. The Israeli fighter jets targeted Syrian military positions along the northern border in response to missile fire. Similar missile launches were also reported from Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon.

“Last night, one launch from Syria toward the area of Yonatan in the Golan Heights was identified. No injuries were reported. IDF artillery struck the sources of the fire,” the Israeli military said in a press release Tuesday. “Overnight, IDF fighter jets struck terrorist infrastructure belonging to the Syrian army in the area of Mhajjah. In addition, IDF artillery struck a Syrian military post in southern Syria last night.”

The Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported:

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued Tuesday morning a rare confirmation of an airstrike on military infrastructure, and a military position, belonging to the Syrian army

According to the statement, fighter jets targeted the Syrian army positions and infrastructure in Mahajjah, within the Daraa Governorate of southern Syria.

In addition, the IDF reported of two incidents of artillery fire toward Syria.

Monday night, IDF artillery attacked a position of the Syrian army in the south of the country. The second incident was in response to a “launch” detected from Syria towards the Golan Heights area.

“One launch was detected from Syrian territory towards the Yonatan area in the Golan Heights, there were no casualties. The IDF attacked with artillery fire the sources of the fire,” the Israeli military said in its statement.

The statement concluded that overnight there were two launches detected from Lebanese territory towards the Misgav area in northern Israel, which fell in open areas and there were no casualties.

NYT: Iran ‘flooding’ West Bank with weapons to fuel terror campaign against Israel

The Israeli strike on Iran-backed Syrian targets comes as Tehran is flooding the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank with weapons in a bid to “foment unrest with Israel,” the New York Times reported Tuesday.

“Iran is operating a clandestine smuggling route across the Middle East, employing intelligence operatives, militants and criminal gangs, to deliver weapons to Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to officials from the United States, Israel and Iran,” the newspaper noted.

According to the report, “Iran is seeking to turn the West Bank into a flashpoint in its shadow war with Israel.”

Iran, the world biggest state sponsor of terrorism, has been bolstering and forging alliances with terrorist groups, ranging from Gaza-based Hamas to Yemen’s Houthis, to create a axis of terror in the Middle East.






DONATE

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.



Source link

Daily Cartoon

Share:

More Posts

Hamas Says Has ‘No Ability’ To Release Even 40 Israeli Hostages, Suggesting Most Murdered

donate

Please enter donation amount below

VETERAN
CIVILIAN
LAW ENFORCEMENT
VIDOL COIN

Choose your membership level

$35 billed annually