In reaction to Saturday Israeli’s rescue operations in Nuseirat and other areas of central Gaza, Hamas described the operation as a “brutal crime, devoid of the values of civilization and humanity,” saying the Israeli military “committed a horrific massacre against innocent civilians.”
Hamas said the rescue would not change Israel’s “strategic failure in the Gaza Strip,” as the group still holds a large number of other hostages after eight months of fighting, CNN reports.
The group’s leader Ismail Haniyeh said, “Our people will not surrender, and the resistance will continue to defend our rights in the face of this criminal enemy.”
Abu Obaida, the spokesman for the group’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, also claimed some hostages had been killed during the rescue mission, but provided no proof and did not elaborate on the identities of who had purportedly died.
In a post on Telegram, he said the rescue raid “posed a great danger” to the remaining hostages and “will have a devastating impact on their conditions and lives.”
Asked about the claim, the Israel Defense Forces said, “Hamas is a terrorist organization that uses psychological terrorism in order to achieve its goals, accordingly its statements should be taken with limited credibility.”
Hostage rescues are rare: this is only the third such successful operation. IDF Corporal Ori Megidish was rescued in October last year from the northern Gaza Strip. In another operation on February 12 this year, Fernando Marman and Louis Har were rescued from southern Rafah.