Statement References Deceased Israeli Air Force Officer
Israeli military armored personnel carriers (APCs) were moving near the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel on July 6 (local time). The Palestinian militant group Hamas warned Israel, which launched a ground military operation in Gaza City on the 18th (local time), that "not a single hostage will be returned." Photo by AP Yonhap News
The Palestinian militant group Hamas warned Israel on the 18th (local time) that "not a single hostage will be returned" in response to Israel's ground military operation in Gaza City.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, stated in a declaration that night, "Their fate will be the same as Ron Arad." Arad was an Israeli Air Force officer who went missing in Lebanon in 1986. In 2016, Israel announced that he had died as a prisoner in Lebanon in 1988.
The Al-Qassam Brigades claimed that Israel is attempting to wage a grueling war of attrition at the risk of further casualties, emphasizing, "The hostages are scattered throughout Gaza, and now that Netanyahu has decided to kill them, we will not keep them alive."
On the same day, senior Hamas official Basem Naim told Qatari media outlet Al Arabi that "as long as Israel expands its military operation in Gaza City, ceasefire negotiations are impossible." He also warned, "The offensive will face fierce resistance, and the deaths that befall the residents will also befall the Israeli hostages there."
This was Naim's first media interview since Israel conducted an airstrike on the Hamas leadership residing in the Qatari capital on the 9th. Naim was reportedly one of the targets at that time. Qatar, which had been mediating the ceasefire negotiations, has temporarily suspended its mediation in protest against Israel's bombing of its territory.
Of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas during its surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, 47 are still believed to remain in the Gaza Strip. Among them, 20 are presumed to be alive. On the 15th, Israel launched a ground offensive to seize control of Gaza City. As of the 19th, the Israeli military estimated that 480,000 out of approximately 1 million Gaza City residents had evacuated to the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
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