After murder of hostages, Israel presses international community to sanction Hamas and Iran

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz orders embassies around the world to lobby leaders to take action after terrorists execute 6 captives held in the Gaza Strip.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s Foreign Ministry has launched a campaign to lobby foreign governments to sanction the Hamas terror organization and Iran, after Hamas terrorists executed six Israeli captives in a tunnel underneath the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Early Sunday morning, IDF soldiers operating in a tunnel under Rafah recovered the remains of six Israeli hostages taken captive on October 7th.

The bodies were returned to Israel that morning and after forensic examinations, it was determined that the captives had been shot in the head multiple times, execution-style, within the previous two to three days.

In response, Foreign Minister Israel Katz (Likud) ordered Israeli embassies around the world to lobby their host countries to take action against Hamas and its patron, Iran, with sanctions.

“An execution is crossing a red line, a shocking war crime by a murderous terrorist organization,” Katz wrote to Israeli embassies, according to a report by Yedioth Aharanoth published Tuesday morning.

“Israel demands the international community categorically condemn the heinous murder of the six hostages and take all possible measures, including sanctions and legal measures, against Hamas and its supporters, led by Iran.”

“This is the time to support Israel and not strengthen its enemies. Please immediately contact your high-ranking partners in your places of residence, and pass on the information and messages.”

In his letter to Israeli embassy heads, Katz urged them to highlight the details of the grisly discovery made by IDF forces in the Rafah tunnel Sunday.

“The six hostages were murdered by Hamas terrorists with several short-range gunshots. According to the forensic examination, the hostages were murdered by their captors approximately 2-3 days before their discovery.”

“The bodies of the hostages were found during the fighting in Rafah in an underground tunnel, about a kilometer away from the tunnel from which Farhan Alkadi was rescued a few days ago. The IDF soldiers eliminated the terrorists in the tunnels during the battles.”

Katz also responded publicly to the revelation Monday, tweeting: “The Hamas terror organization brutally executed six hostages to instill fear and attempt to fracture Israeli society. Israel will respond with full force to this heinous crime. Hamas is responsible and will pay the full price.”

A day later, he warned against the establishment of a Palestinian state, tweeting “No to a Palestinian terror state,” above a photoshopped image of a three-headed octopus with the heads of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, and Hamas politburo chairman Yahya Sinwar, with a caption reading “The Octopus of Terror.”

HamasIranIsrael KatzIsraeli captives in Gaza