Hamas: Resistance Groups Protected Captives, Israel Killed Them

Gaza (Quds News Network)- Hamas said on Thursday that resistance groups in Gaza protected the Israeli captives and treated them humanely. However, the Israeli forces killed them along with their captors during the assault. The group also emphasized that they “were careful to respect” the sanctity of the dead captives during Thursday’s handover.

Hamas and the resistance groups in Gaza will release on Thursday the bodies of four Israeli captives: Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas, Kfir Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz, as part of the prisoner exchange deal under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.

Hamas previously said Shiri Bibas and her children were killed in an Israeli air attack in November 2023. Her husband, Yarden, was released last week in the ongoing captives and prisoner exchanges.

In a statement on Wednesday, Hamas confirmed, “All of them were alive before the Zionist occupation aircraft deliberately bombed the locations where they were being held.”

In a statement issued ahead of the release of the bodies of four captives on Thursday, Hamas said the resistance in Gaza “were careful to respect the sanctity of the dead and the feelings of their families, despite the fact that the occupation army showed no regard for their lives when they were alive.”

“We safeguarded the lives of the occupation’s captives, provided them with whatever we could, and treated them humanely, while their army killed them alongside their captors,” it added.

Hamas said the Israeli forces “killed its captives by bombing their locations, and the Nazi occupation government is fully responsible for repeatedly obstructing the exchange agreement.”

“The criminal Netanyahu is now lamenting the bodies of the captives, returned to him in coffins, in a blatant attempt to avoid taking responsibility for their deaths in front of his audience.”

Hamas noted the Qassam Brigades and the resistance “did everything possible to protect the prisoners and preserve their lives, but the ongoing and brutal bombings by the occupation prevented them from saving all of them.”

In a message to the families of Bibas and Lifshitz, Hamas said, “We would have preferred your sons returned to you alive, but the leaders of your army and government chose to kill them rather than rescue them. They also killed 17,881 Palestinian children in their criminal bombing of Gaza, and we know that you understand who is truly responsible for their deaths. You have been victims of a leadership that does not care for its own people.”

It added, “We affirm that an exchange is the only way to bring the prisoners back alive to their families, and any attempt to recover them through military force or return to war will only result in more losses among the prisoners.”