Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), suggested that 5 Israeli prisoners were killed as a result of the ongoing occupation raids on the Gaza Strip, after it announced the loss of contact with the group responsible for them.
Abu Ubaida added – in a brief statement on Telegram – that among these prisoners were Haim Peri, Yoram Metzger, and Amiram Cooper, who appeared in a video clip broadcast by the Al-Qassam Brigades a few days ago, demanding that their leaders not leave them in captivity and “not to grow old in it.”
One of the Israeli prisoners, named Haim Berri (79 years old), said that he is from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and is in captivity with a group of elderly people, patients with chronic diseases, and suffering from very harsh conditions.
He added, “We are the generation of the children of Israel, and we participated in building the army, and I do not understand why we are left here?”, before continuing, apparently appealing to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying, “You must release us at any cost.”
The prisoner continued, “We do not want to be victims of air force attacks. Release us without any conditions, and do not let us grow old.”
This is not the first time that Al-Qassam has announced the loss of contact with groups responsible for holding prisoners in Gaza. On November 18, it announced the loss of contact with a group charged with protecting Israeli prisoners, and that the fate of the prisoners and detainees is unknown.
Israel says that dozens of Israelis are still held captive by Hamas inside the Gaza Strip, while Hamas demands the release of all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons in exchange for the release of Israeli prisoners.
Qatari mediation succeeded in reaching a temporary humanitarian truce that lasted for a week, during which two Israeli detainees in the Gaza Strip were released, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners, including women and children, according to the equation (1 for 3), before the truce collapsed at the beginning of this December.
Demonstrations are escalating in Tel Aviv demanding the necessity of concluding a new exchange deal, especially after the killing of 3 Israeli prisoners in Gaza by the occupation forces, which sparked a massive wave of anger and placed more pressure on Netanyahu’s right-wing government.
