The spokesman for the al Qassam brigades (Hamas' military wing) Abu Ubaida said that Israeli bombing in Gaza has so far caused the death of 22 hostages seized on October 7 by Hamas . “The brutal Zionist aggression against homes and homes has so far led to the loss of life of 22 Zionist prisoners.” In total, Hamas reports, there are 250 hostages .
"Two centers are in the hands of Hamas and another 50 in the hands of resistance factions and elsewhere", explains Abu Ubaida himself, adding that the foreign citizens " are our guests and will be released when conditions on the ground allow it ".
Tonight Hamas also released the video of a hostage, it is an Israeli girl: «My name is Maya Sham, I am 21 years old and I am from Shoham. I'm in Gaza right now. Early Saturday morning I was returning from a party in the Sderot area. I was seriously injured on my hand. They took me to Gaza and took me to the hospital for three hours. They took care of me, providing me with medications. I only ask you to take me home as soon as possible to my family, to my parents, to my brothers. Please get me out of here as soon as possible ,” he says.
Tel Aviv military spokesman Daniel Hagari says that for their safety Israel is making "a national effort of supreme priority" also through intelligence. Just yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to the families of those captured, assuring them that the safety of their loved ones is one of the priority objectives of the war.
Hamas missiles continue to reach Israeli territory : today US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Netanyahu took refuge in a bunker for about five minutes after air-raid sirens rang out in Tel Aviv while a meeting was in progress between the two.
But the Israeli air force is also continuing to relentlessly pound the Palestinian enclave and claims to have killed the head of Hamas' general intelligence in Khan Younis, in the south of the Strip. "We are laying the foundations for the most effective ground maneuvers possible," warned General Aviation Commander Tomer Bar. But the announced Israeli invasion of Gaza, with troops deployed on the border and tanks already in position, risks bringing to an escalation of conflict across the Middle East.
Especially with the powerful Iran, from which constant threats to Israel arise. In a telephone conversation today with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned that "the ongoing siege, the killing of women and children and the ground attack on the Gaza Strip" will lead to "a long war on different fronts,” Mohammad Jamshedi, deputy chief of staff of the Iranian presidency, wrote in X. Hamas, added the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Minister Nasser Kanaani, will release the hostages, but only if Israel puts an end to the attacks on the Strip.
«The developments in Gaza – continued the spokesperson – have drawn a line that cancels the process for the normalization of relations» with Israel carried out by some Arab countries. “Some regional countries, who mistakenly believed that they could provide security in light of the normalization of relations with Israel, have now realized that the Zionists are not even capable of providing their own security,” the Islamic Republic official said . "We are concerned about the widening of the crisis and believe that as long as the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands continues, there will be tension and insecurity in the region ."
«The threat is real – commented Jake Sullivan, US national security advisor, in an interview with CBS – There is the risk of escalation of this conflict, of the opening of a second front in the north and obviously of the involvement of the 'Iran. We must prepare for every eventuality ."
(Unioneonline/D)
