ionigeria.com Nigerian Newspaper
Seven hostages being held in the Gaza Strip have died, Hamas said on Friday.
The group blamed the deaths on Israeli bombardment and said a “number” of its fighters were also killed. It said the number of hostages killed might now exceed 70.
Hamas named three of the hostages that had been allegedly killed as Chaim Gershon Peri, 79, Yoram Itak Metzger, 80, and Amiram Israel Cooper, 85. The terrorist group said a later announcement would contain the names of the remaining four.
All three men were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7.
The information provided by Hamas is unconfirmed, and Hamas has previously shared false information on the well-being of hostages as part of its use of psychological warfare. Hamas has previously named a hostage as killed only to later release them, as was the case of Hannah Katzir.
Hamas’s latest statement on the seven hostages
“We have previously announced that our contact has been cut off with our mujahideen who are guarding a number of enemy prisoners,” Hamas announced on their Telegram, “and that we believe that a number of the prisoners have been killed as a result of the Zionist bombing.
“After examination and scrutiny during recent weeks, we have confirmed the martyrdom of a number of our mujahideen and the killing of seven enemy prisoners in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Zionist bombing.”
“We confirm that the number of enemy prisoners who were killed as a result of the military operations of the enemy army in the Gaza Strip may exceed seventy prisoners,” the statement claimed. “We have been keen all along to preserve the lives of the prisoners, but it has become clear that the enemy leadership is deliberately killing its prisoners to get rid of this file.
“At the same time, we affirm that the price we will take in exchange for five or ten living prisoners is the same price we would have taken in exchange for all the prisoners if the enemy’s bombing operations had not killed them.”
The last component of the statement is a reference to the current proposed ceasefire deal, which would begin on the Islamic holiday of Ramadan and see 10 security prisoners released per Israeli hostage.
