70% of Israeli Captives Killed in Bombardments: Hamas Official
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A Hamas official said the Zionist regime’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip has killed 70 percent of the Israelis held captive by the Palestinian resistance movement after the Al-Aqsa Storm operation in October 2023.
Khalil al-Hayya, deputy chief of Hamas’ Political Bureau, announced the information in an interview with Lebanon’s al-Manar television network on Thursday.
“The Zionist enemy wants to recover the remaining captives by force, killing them by bombing,” he said.
Around 250 people were taken captive on October 7 last year during Al-Aqsa Storm, a retaliatory operation by Gaza’s resistance groups, Press TV reported.
At least 35,272 Palestinians have died in an Israeli war of genocide that began following the operation.
Hamas released 105 of the captives during a week-long truce in late November.
Hamas recently agreed to another truce proposal enabling cessation of the Israeli aggression and release of the rest of the captives. The Israeli regime, however, rejected the proposal.
The Hamas’ official said, “The latest proposal presented to us comes very close to our demands, but the enemy has not respected the proposal or the mediators.”
Al-Hayya reiterated the movement’s demands, saying any potential truce agreement had to mandate a complete and comprehensive cessation of the Israeli aggression, withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza, and then a captive exchange deal.
