Published November 28, 2023
The release of more hostages by Hamas to Israel last night saw officials agree to extend their ceasefire by another two days as both parties continue to negotiate terms to free yet more captees.
But hopes that Hamas could eventually return all hostages to Israel without issue were dashed last night when it emerged that as many as 40 people taken during the ruthless October 7 attacks – including ten-month-old Kfir Bibas – are no longer under the captivity of the Palestinian group.
IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee yesterday declared Kfir, his four-year-old brother Ariel and mother Shiri had been taken to Khan Younis in southern Gaza and handed to elements of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) – a jihadist group that seeks to destroy Israel and has historically rejected any diplomatic engagement with Tel-Aviv.
Hamas officials also acknowledged that several of the hostages were now in PIJ custody, and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who led the effort to broker the ceasefire, said they ‘may never be able to reach them’.
And in yet another layer of complexity, some Israelis are feared to have been scooped up by civilian gangs who capitalised on the chaos of October 7 to seize hostages of their own.
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SOURCE: www.dailymail.co.uk
RELATED: Report: Hamas Has Lost Track of Some Israeli Hostages Abducted in Terror Attack
Published November 27, 2023
The Argentine news outlet Infobae reported on Sunday, citing “sources familiar with the details of the [hostage] agreement,” that the jihadist terrorist organization Hamas does not know the location of some of the estimated 240 people abducted from Israel on October 7, complicating the group’s ability to negotiate for their release.
The Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani appeared to verify that report on Sunday, telling the Financial Times that some of the hostages were “missing” and that Hamas would allegedly use the time bought in a truce Israel agreed to in exchange for the release of hostages to find others they have allegedly lost. Qatar allows Hamas, a genocidal jihadist terror organization, to maintain its “political” operations base in Doha and has been helping Hamas communicate with the government of Israel and its allies.
The whereabouts of the hostages not in direct Hamas custody remain unknown. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a rival terrorist group, reportedly claimed to be keeping 30 of those hostages imprisoned. Some reports have suggested that organized crime syndicates in Gaza, which Hamas controls, may be keeping individual hostages or families in captivity independent of direct Hamas control.
Hamas took its hostages on October 7 as part of a massive, unprecedented terror assault it has dubbed the “al-Aqsa flood.” On that day, the jihadists invaded Israel and began indiscriminately killing civilians, raiding residential communities and executing entire families in door-to-door attacks. The terrorists filmed themselves abducting people, killing them, torturing them, desecrating the bodies of victims, and posted many of the videos to social media, including the profiles of their victims. Eyewitness and forensic evidence indicate that the terrorists engaged in multiple acts of gang rape, including at least one killing in which a woman was shot in the head in the middle of a gang rape. Authorities have also found evidence of Hamas terrorists killing and mutilating children, including decapitated and charred bodies of babies. Israeli officials estimate the death toll of the “al-Aqsa flood” to be upwards of 1,200 people.
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SOURCE: www.breitbart.com
RELATED: Hamas Needs to Find 40 ‘Missing’ Hostages to Extend Truce: Qatari PM
Published November 27, 2023
As many as 40 Israeli women and children are being held hostage in Gaza by groups other than Hamas—and the militant group will need to account for them in order to extend its brief ceasefire with Israel, Qatar’s prime minister told the Financial Times on Sunday.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told the newspaper that the fragile truce, which was brokered by Qatar, could continue should Hamas use the pause to track down the other hostages. There would have to be “proof” that the group, which also governs the Gaza Strip, had found and could release those hostages, the prime minister added.
He indicated there were no other terms under which Israel would be willing to extend the peace. “From our perspective, we want to see this war stopped to figure out a solution to address the concerns [Israel has], but until now the only willingness to negotiate about any pause or ceasefire… is associated with the hostages,” Sheikh Mohammed told the Times.
“If things move in the right direction, we will be able to enter negotiations on another category [of hostages].”
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SOURCE: www.the dailybeast.com
