Hamas warns it will "neutralize" hostages if Israel tries rescue mission

Hamas claimed it had information that Israel planned to conduct a hostage rescue operation similar to one in Gaza's Nuseirat camp in June. In an internal statement seen by Reuters on Wednesday, Hamas threatened to "neutralize," or kill, the captives if such an operation took place, News.az reports citing foreign media.

In the internal document dated November 22, Hamas told its operatives not to consider any repercussions of following the instructions and said Israel was responsible for the fate of the hostages. It did not say when any Israeli operation was expected to take place.

Hostages Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv were rescued in a special operation by the security forces in early June. The four had been abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, where they were working or spending time with their friends. They were rescued in a complex operation by the IDF, the Shin Bet and the Israel Police , which operated in the heart of Nusairat in the center of the Gaza Strip. In the heroic operation Commander Arnon Zamora was killed; the operation was later renamed Operation Arnon.

About three months after the successful rescue operation, a serious incident occurred in the Gaza Strip, in which six hostages were murdered in a tunnel in Rafah by Hamas terrorists, who feared an IDF combat rescue operation. Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi, Alex Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Carmel Gat were murdered in Gaza days after the IDF and Shin Bet successfully recovered the body of an Israeli soldier who was killed and kidnapped to Gaza during the October 7 attacks. The hostages were murdered a day before the IDF forces arrived at the tunnel, and were found with gunshot wounds and with severe conditions of neglect evident on their bodies.

News.Az