Gaza: 'Hamas still has 30 Israeli officers in captivity, Sinwar still leading'

A high-ranking source within Hamas has revealed the group continues to hold at least 30 Israeli officers while confirming Yahya Sinwar, the group's leader in Gaza, continues to lead 'effectively'.

In remarks carried by The New Arab's sister Arabic-language outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the source, who was not named, said that the Israeli occupation government is "systematically engaging in deception targeting the Israeli public and families of prisoners held by the resistance, aiming to evade the duty of releasing these prisoners."

The source refuted claims circulated by Israeli media outlets that Hamas has only 20 Israeli captives, with the fate of the remaining hostages unknown. Nearly 100 Israeli captives are thought to be still alive in Gaza.

While saying it is impossible to accurately ascertain the exact number of living prisoners in the Gaza war zone, the source confirmed to AAAJ  that "Hamas alone has approximately 30 Israeli army and Shin Bet officers captured on the seventh of October from highly sensitive military units and locations."

The Hamas source said the captives are in "highly secure locations, far beyond the reach of the occupation", in reference to Israel.

The source further claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some of his ministers are "withholding significant information regarding the identities of certain military prisoners to prevent provoking the ire of the armed force".

"The sole pathway to release the occupation's prisoners lies in negotiations accompanied by commitment to ceasefire and reconstruction," the source added.

Where is Yahya Sinwar?

Regarding Yahya Sinwar, the shadowy leader of the group in Gaza, the source said he is "effectively leading the movement on the ground", dismissing Israeli claims that Sinwar is hiding in the tunnel networks, which he said were "attempts by Netanyahu and his cohorts to obfuscate their failure in achieving stated objectives before the Israeli populace and allies".

Sinwar "recently inspected areas that witnessed clashes between the resistance and the occupation army, and met with some fighters of the movement above ground and not in the tunnels," he added.

"In recent discussions between the leadership of the movement internally and externally, Sinwar briefed the external leadership of the movement on the situation of the resistance in the Strip and affirmed, through precise field data, the strength of the resistance's position, its resilience, and its ability to confront the forces of the occupation."

On the other hand, the official affirmed that the movement "continuously and seriously engages with all proposals aimed at reaching a ceasefire agreement", noting that "the US administration revealed its true face during the negotiation round, as it is fundamentally a party in the war on the sector and not a mediator."

He added, "Since the conclusion of that round, the US has been seething with anger after failing through all pressure attempts to force the resistance to accept surrender conditions in favour of the occupation government and release Israeli prisoners without real commitments to end the suffering of the Palestinian people."

The source denied that the movement was under pressure from the Egyptian and Qatari mediators, affirming that "the positions of Cairo and Doha were accommodating of the demands and conditions of the resistance."

Hamas on Tuesday rejected what it called "false accusations" made by the US that it "moved the goalposts" and changed its demands in ceasefire negotiations to bring an end to the war on Gaza.

Hamas instead accused Washington of being a "full partner in the war of extermination against our people".