Hostage crisis between Hamas and Israel
The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades announced that they wanted to release 2 Israeli civilians they are holding in the Gaza Strip, but that Israel refused.
AA
Abu Obeida, spokesperson for the Al-Qassam Brigades, announced in a written statement via Telegram that they had informed Qatar of their intention to release 2 Israeli citizens for humanitarian reasons, but that Tel Aviv had refused. In his statement, Abu Obeida also shared the names and identification details of the individuals they intended to release.
ISRAEL LABELS IT 'FALSE PROPAGANDA'
The Al-Qassam Brigades announced that they were ready to hand over two Israeli civilian hostages tomorrow morning using the same method they used for the two US citizens they released yesterday. In a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, it was stated, "We will not comment on Hamas's false propaganda. We will continue to take every step to bring the hostages back home."
ISRAELI ARMY INVESTIGATING MISSING HOSTAGES
Lior Haiat, spokesperson for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also told an AA reporter over the phone that "they would not be making any comments at this stage." The Israeli army had announced that the families of 210 of the Israelis held hostage in the blockaded Gaza Strip had been notified. Israeli Army Spokesperson Daniel Hagari had stated that this figure was not the total number of hostages and that the Israeli army was investigating information regarding missing Israelis.