The Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, announced that it had confirmed the news of seven captives killed in Israeli bombing of Gaza after investigations conducted over the past few weeks after it had lost contact with fighters who had been holding the captives.
It was not immediately clear when the seven died.
Several captives have been killed as a result of Israeli attacks in Gaza, including three who were shot by Israeli forces.
The death of the captives shows that Israel’s government considers them a ‘secondary priority,” Omar Ashour, professor of security and military studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said to Al Jazeera.
“The [Israeli military’s] first priority is to destroy the armed wing of Hamas and the other Palestinian factions, to undermine them in any way, even if it costs the lives of some of the hostages,” Ashour told Al Jazeera.
“The only way to release the hostages safely is the way it was done before – through some sort of negotiations. The Israeli government knows that… They just don’t want to admit it,” he said.
