Hamas’ armed wing, the Al-Qassam brigades, released a video on Monday (7) to mark the one-year milestone of the attack against Israel on October 7, 2023. The fighters also praised an attack last week on Jaffa neighborhood in Tel Aviv, in which seven people were killed.
A masked man who said he was Abu Obaida, the military spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, said in the video that the hostages were in danger and warned the Israeli government to speed up negotiations on a hostage exchange agreement.
He also warned that there would be more such attacks against Israel.
“The morale and health conditions of the remaining hostages have become extremely difficult. The dangers that surround them increase day by day. In short, the fate of the enemy’s hostages is linked to a decision by the occupation government. This issue is extremely serious and dangerous,” the masked spokesperson said in the video.
Hamas, which sparked the Gaza war with a surprise attack on Israel a year ago, said on Monday it hit Israel’s commercial capital Tel Aviv with a volley of missiles, setting off sirens in central Israel. Two people were slightly injured, according to the Israeli ambulance service.
The series of rockets signaled Hamas’ enduring ability to fight back despite a prolonged Israeli military attack aimed at destroying its combat capabilities, a year after Hamas’ shocking cross-border incursion into Israel that started the war.
Israelis marked the first anniversary of the Hamas attack with ceremonies and protests on Monday (7), including a memorial event for the victims of the Nova Music Festival, where fighters killed 364 people and kidnapped 44 concertgoers.
In a shockwave through Israeli cities and kibbutz villages near the Gaza border a year ago, Hamas-led fighters killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli figures.
The Hamas attack triggered an Israeli offensive on Gaza that largely destroyed the densely populated enclave and killed nearly 42,000 people, Palestinian health officials say.
Understand the conflict in the Gaza Strip
Israel has carried out intense airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since last year, after Hamas invaded the country and killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli counts. Furthermore, the radical group holds dozens of hostages.
Hamas does not recognize Israel as a state and claims Israeli territory for Palestine.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly promised to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities and recover people detained in Gaza.
In addition to the air offensive, the Israeli Army carries out land incursions into Palestinian territory. This caused much of Gaza’s population to be displaced.
The UN and several humanitarian institutions have warned of a catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, with a lack of food, medicine and the spread of diseases.
About a year into the conflict, the Israeli population took to the streets in protests against Netanyahu, accusing the prime minister of failing to reach a ceasefire agreement so the hostages could be released.
This content was originally published in Armed arm of Hamas warns of danger to hostages in 1 year of war in Gaza on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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