Hamas' Al Qassam Brigades hand over a coffin containing the body believed to be that of Shiri Bibas, a mother captured by the brigades along with her husband and two children on October 7, 2023. - Hamas
CAIRO – 21 February 2025: Hamas said it wanted to release all civilian captives immediately in the early days of the Israeli war on Gaza without any conditions, asserting that Tel Aviv, however, rejected their offer.
“All the civilian captives were alive at that time,” said Taher Al-Nunu, media advisor to Hamas' political bureau, in remarks to Al Jazeera on Friday.
“We wanted to release the civilians immediately and without any conditions in the early days of the war, and we clearly stated that we wanted a ceasefire so we could deliver all the civilians,” he stressed.
Al-Nunu noted that Hamas engaged in discussions on this matter despite Israeli obstinacy until both sides reached an initial ceasefire in November 2023. During that time, he mentioned, the movement offered to hand over the Bibas family, who were killed shortly before that.
“We wanted to deliver the mother and the bodies of the two sons as part of the framework of the deal,” Al-Nunu said, placing blame on the Israeli army for bombing the residential area that housed the family.
These remarks come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge on Friday, claiming that Hamas provided a wrong body of Shiri Bibas yesterday as part of the ongoing ceasefire between both sides in Gaza.
Netanyahu described the incident as a “cruel and malicious violation” of the ceasefire agreement, while Hamas says that the body of Shiri Bibas, handed over along with her two children, may have been mixed with other bodies killed by Israel.
Hamas stated it is conducting an investigation into the possible mix-up, with Al-Nunu attributing the incident to the lack of DNA testing capabilities, which Israel has destroyed during the war, and the intense Israeli bombardment on residential areas.
“The occupation army bombed a residential area while knowing there might be a family or a group of civilian captives in that location,” Nunu said. “Tens of thousands of Palestinian children have been killed, and their remains have mixed together.”
He requested the entry of equipment necessary to recover the bodies of deceased Palestinians and Israeli captives, as well as the required DNA testing equipment.
Hamas is set to release six living captives on Saturday, double the number initially agreed upon in the swap. This group of six captives represents the last set to be freed under the first phase of the ceasefire, which expires in early March.
The list of names of captives to be released tomorrow, as announced by Hamas, includes Hisham Al-Sayed and Avera Mengistu, who were captured in 2014 and 2015 after crossing into Gaza. Other captives to be released are Eliya Cohen, Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, and Omer Wenkert.
Hamas still holds dozens of captives in Gaza, set to be released during the next phase of the deal, which has yet to be agreed upon.
In exchange, Israel is expected to release more than 600 Palestinian prisoners and detainees on Saturday, including hundreds detained during the war and dozens serving life sentences.
Be Social
Comments
Leave a Comment