Hamas says two Israeli hostages killed in Gaza bombing
Gaza bombing: In the video, a lady taken captive confessed under coercion that she had killed two of the guys she was being held captive alongside.
The Israeli prisoners who were brought to Gaza on October 7 have died, according to a new video posted by the Palestinian Hamas group on Monday.
In the video, a 26-year-old hostage called Noa Argamani revealed that two of the guys she was being kept captive with had been slain while speaking under duress.
On Sunday, Hamas published another video that included Argamani and two hostages who appeared to be in good health.
The two guys, identified by the media as Yossi Sharabi, 53, and Itay Svirsky, 38, were the same ones who were declared dead in the footage released on Monday.
The two soldiers were slain by “the Zionist army’s bombing,” according to a statement issued by the armed branch of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, along with the publication of the footage on Monday.
The video’s distribution by Hamas was dubbed a “brutal use of innocent hostages” by the Israeli army.
The assertion made by Hamas that Israeli forces killed Svirsky and the other hostages was denied by military spokesman Daniel Hagari.
“Hamas is lying,” he declared.
“The building in which they were kept was not a target and it was not attacked by our forces,” Hagari told the media.
He did, however, add that an inquiry is under progress and that “we know that we hit targets near the location where they were held.”
It involves “examining the pictures that Hamas is disseminating, alongside additional information that we have,” added Hagari.
Of the approximately 250 hostages taken by Hamas in the historic October 7 incident that started the Israel-Hamas war, 132 are still in Gaza, according to Israeli officials, with at least 25 of them thought to have died.
The military revealed last month that they had mistakenly executed three hostages because they thought they were a threat.
A representative for the military branch of Hamas, Abu Obeida, stated on Sunday that many of the hostages had probably recently died.
“The enemy’s leadership and army bear full responsibility,” he declared.
At a press conference on Monday, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that Hamas was putting “psychological pressure” on the families of the detainees, shortly after the video’s publication.
He informed the families that the army was providing assistance and kept them informed of any developments.
“Hamas has been hit hard by the IDF (military),” claimed he.
“What’s left for it is to touch a sensitive nerve in Israeli society through acts of psychological abuse against the family members.”
Reiterating that “military pressure” was the only viable means of rescuing the prisoners, Gallant ruled out any possibility of a truce in Gaza.
He warned that if we don’t get any agreement, “nobody will talk to us” and we “will not succeed in reaching any agreements.”
SOURCE: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/hamas-says-2-hostages-killed-in-israel-bombing-releases-video-4869374