Gaza, Sep 3 (IANS) Hamas has warned Israel that its insistence on releasing hostages through military pressure will have dire consequences. The hostages will be “delivered to their families in coffins.”
“The fighters deployed to guard the prisoners have been given new instructions. They have been told how to deal with the hostages before the Israeli army reaches the detention centers,” Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas’s military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement on Monday.
This information has been given in the report of Xinhua News Agency quoting Obeida. According to the report, Obeida has said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or the Israeli Army will be responsible for the death of the hostages.
He warned, “If Netanyahu resorts to military pressure instead of an agreement, then know that the hostages will return to their families in coffins. Now their families have to choose whether they want them (hostages) alive or dead.”
The statement came after the bodies of two women and four men were recovered from Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they died in a Hamas tunnel shortly before troops arrived.
Thousands of people rallied in Israel on Sunday to demand that Netanyahu negotiate a ceasefire with Hamas to ensure the return of hostages held in Gaza.
–IANS
RK
