Israeli public broadcaster claimed that Hamas and Palestinian resistance groups have placed some Israeli captives inside homes and tents across the Gaza Strip — allegedly preparing for a ground advance by Israeli occupation forces.
The broadcaster said on Monday that “this step aims to make Israeli army operations more difficult and to use the captives as leverage against a wide-scale operation,” adding that “Hamas is preparing to begin manoeuvres against the Israeli army, and has moved some hostages above ground to hinder Israeli movements.”
It reported that Hamas has “assigned several senior field commanders to lead the fighting,” naming Izz al-Din Haddad as a military wing commander; Raed Saad as operations commander; Mohammed Odeh as intelligence commander; and Muhannad Rajab, a senior figure in Hamas’s military wing in the Gaza Brigade, who comes from a family close to Hamas and resides in the Shujaiya and Tuffah neighbourhoods.
The broadcaster also alleged that, in preparation for the manoeuvre, Hamas intends to create a “legitimate ambush” in Gaza City — a situation that would exploit Palestinian civilian injuries to ramp up international pressure on Israel to halt the fighting.
It added that “Hamas seeks to keep as many residents of northern Gaza as possible from evacuating southward. It uses threats and circulates media urging people to remain in their homes.”
Abu Ubaida’s Statement at the End of Last Month
At the end of last month, Abu Ubaida, the military spokesperson for the al-Qassam Brigades — the armed wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) — said that “the enemy’s criminal plans to occupy Gaza will backfire on its political and military leadership. The enemy’s army will pay for this with the blood of its soldiers, and, God willing, we will increase the chances of capturing new soldiers.”
In remarks published on his Telegram channel, Abu Ubaida added that “our fighters are on high alert, fully mobilised and in high spirits. They will set forth outstanding examples of heroism and steadfastness, and — God willing — will teach the invaders harsh lessons.”
He also accused “the war criminal Netanyahu and his Nazi ministers” of insisting on halving the number of living enemy captives and ensuring that most bodies of their dead captives disappear forever — a crime for which he held the Israeli army and government “fully responsible.”
Abu Ubaida concluded by saying: “We will preserve the enemy’s captives to the best of our ability; they will be with our fighters in places of fighting and confrontation under the same conditions of danger and subsistence. We will announce the identity of any captive killed by the aggression, with their name, photograph, and proof of death.”
One Ummah. One platform. One mission.
Your support keeps it alive.
Click here to Donate & Fund your Islamic Independent Platform