(l. to r.) Top row: Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Hersh Goldberg-Polin; Bottom row: Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, Carmel Gat (Courtesy of the families)
Council of imams castigates ‘barbaric’ Hamas execution of six Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip, calling the killings ‘unmitigated evil.’
By World Israel News Staff
A group of Islamic leaders condemned the Hamas terror organization over its execution of six Israeli hostages abducted on October 7th and held captive in the Gaza Strip.
On Sunday, IDF forces returned the remains of five Israeli captives and one dual Israeli-American citizen to Israel, after their bodies were found in a tunnel underneath the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.
Forensics examinations of the six bodies revealed that the victims had been shot in the head repeatedly, execution-style, sometime in the two to three days prior to their return to Israel.
Hamas acknowledged that it had ordered the hostages be executed, over concerns they could be rescued by IDF forces, as happened in the case of four captives rescued from a pair of Hamas safehouses in central Gaza in June.
A spokesman for Hamas warned that the group would continue to murder Israeli captives whenever their captors fear Israeli forces could be approaching.
Hours after the hostages’ remains were returned to Israel on Sunday, the Global Imams Council, an international group of moderate Sunni and Shia clerics, issued a joint statement condemning Hamas over the executions.
“The Global Imams Council condemns in the strongest possible terms the barbaric actions of Hamas, which have resulted in the brutal execution of six innocent hostages, among them a dual American citizen, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, in a tunnel in the city of Rafah.”
“The targeting and brutalization of civilians…are acts of unmitigated evil,” the statement continued.
The council also condemned Iran, patron of the Hamas terror group, for its role in the violence.
“We hold Hamas directly responsible for the deaths and suffering of all innocent lives lost since October 7th…moreover, we recognize that the regime in Iran shares equal responsibility for these tragedies, as its continued support and endorsement of Hamas’s actions perpetuate violence.”
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