Hamas warns hostages face fate of missing pilot if Israel assault continues

Hamas’ armed wing published Saturday “farewell” photographs of most of the remaining hostages in Gaza, warning that Israel’s assault on Gaza City could endanger them.

With the images, it evoked the case of an Israeli pilot missing since 1986 after being shot down over Lebanon.

Of the 251 people seized by Palestinian militants during their attack on Israel in October 2023, 47 remain in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.

“Due to (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s obstinacy and (military chief Eyal) Zamir’s submission…. a farewell photograph taken at the start of the operation in Gaza” City, the Brigades wrote alongside the photos.

Israel launched a ground assault on Gaza City on Tuesday, following weeks of heavy air strikes that continue on the territory’s largest urban centre.

Hundreds of thousands of residents have fled, while families of hostages have urged the government to halt the offensive, warning it risks the lives of their loved ones still in captivity in Gaza.

The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades released 46 photographs of hostages on its Telegram channel, each one labelled with the name of Ron Arad, an Israeli air force navigator whose plane went down over southern Lebanon in 1986 during the Lebanese civil war.

Arad was believed to have been initially held by Shiite groups in Lebanon and is now presumed dead, with his remains never returned.

He has been a cause celebre for decades in Israel, where bringing home lost or captured soldiers is considered a national duty.

AFP