Jerusalem, Oct 31 (EFE). – Abu Ubeida, spokesman for the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, said Tuesday that in coming days the group will release more hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attack against Israel.
“We have informed mediators that we will release a certain number of foreigners in the coming days,” Ubeida said in a televised speech.
The spokesman, who did not give further details on the matter, denied Israeli information that it had freed a female soldier held by the Islamist group on Monday.
He also denied that Israeli soldiers had “reached any prisoner in the hands of al-Qassam.” Ubeida said that if it were true, it could have happened to individual parties, including Gazans holding hostages.
The spokesman that “if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasts of releasing one hostage a month after the battle, it means it will take him 20 years to release all the prisoners in Gaza.”
He also warned: “Gaza will be a graveyard and a quagmire for the enemy, its soldiers and its political and military leadership.”
According to the Israeli army, there are currently 240 kidnapped people in Gaza, taken by Hamas and other Palestinian militias during their Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which also left 1,400 dead and more than 5,400 wounded.
In retaliation, Israel began bombing Gaza the same day and expanded its ground operations on Friday, resulting in 8,500 deaths and more than 21,500 wounded.
Abu Ubeida stressed that the Israeli army decided to “invade by land” the Strip, after adopting a “scorched earth” policy that caused great destruction through land, air and sea bombardments.
He explained that since the beginning of the Israeli ground offensive, they have carried out a response and defense on all fronts and are still engaged in “fierce and intense” battles.
Abu Obeida assured that the Al Qasam Brigades destroyed 22 military vehicles of their opponents with 22 anti-tank projectiles, stressing that they introduced for the first time in this battle “zero distance” bombs against the tanks.EFE ssa/mcd/ics
