Hamas claims Israeli airstrikes killed 3 hostages, wounded 5

Several of Hamas’s past reports on dead hostages turned out to be false when captives returned alive, and such announcements are often a strategy of psychological warfare. 

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Hamas’s military wing announced that three of eight hostages wounded by Israeli airstrikes have died of their wounds.

Many of Hamas’s past reports on dead hostages turned out to be false when captives were returned alive, and such announcements are often a strategy of psychological warfare.

For instance, Hamas insisted that Hannah Katzir had been killed by an Israeli airstrike, but was released in late November.

However, the IDF conceded that it’s possible hostages might have been killed by airstrikes, as was the case with Israeli captive Yossi Sharabi who was housed in a building next to one that was targeted by the IAF and died in the blast.

Hamas released a statement on Telegram that said, “The al-Qassam Brigades announce the killing of three of the eight Zionist detainees who we announced yesterday were seriously injured in the barbaric Zionist raids on the Gaza Strip.”

“We will postpone announcing the names and photos of the dead for days to come until the fate of the rest of the wounded becomes clear,” said the statement.

Another statement released by Hamas on Monday showed an extreme state of panic over the IDF’s campaign in Rafah but with no mention of the liberation of two captives in an overnight mission.

The statement discusses only civilian casualties without acknowledging the large number of terrorists among the dead.

The Hamas reports were made the same day as Israel announced that its special forces freed two hostages—Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70—in an overnight mission in Rafah.

During the rescue mission, special forces entered the building and located the 2 Israeli hostages on the second floor guarded by 3 terrorists.

They guarded the bodies of the hostages while freeing them under fire as Israeli airstrikes were also used to accomplish the rescue mission.