Hamas threatens to execute hostages if Isreal bombs Gaza without warning
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Hamas has said it will execute Israeli hostages in response to any bombings of the Gaza Strip that come without warning.
Abu Obeida, spokesman of the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said in an audio message that the threat was in response to air strikes on civilian areas by Israel.
He said: âWe have decided to put an end to this and as of now, we declare that any targeting of our people in their homes without prior warning will be regrettably faced with the execution of one the hostages of civilians we are holding.â
In a statement in response, Israelâs foreign minister Eli Cohen warned Hama against harming hostages taken from Israel. He said: âWe demand Hamas not to harm any of the hostages. This war crime will not be forgiven.â
Experts believe Israeli hostages could be held captive for âmany yearsâ as they continue to be used as a âhuman shieldâ during the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Hamas claims to have seized around 100 people â including the elderly, women, children and soldiers â during its shock incursion into Israel on Saturday, while Islamic Jihad â a second Palestinian paramilitary group â has also claimed to have captured a further 30.
âWith an escalation of attacks in Gaza the situation for the hostages is tricky,â Nomi Bar-Yaacov, an associate fellow at think-tank Chatham House, told i.
In the longer term, it is likely terror groups will seek to negotiate the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel in exchange for their hostages.
Qatari mediators have already held calls with Hamas to try to negotiate freedom for Israeli women and children held in Gaza in exchange for the release of 36 Palestinian women and children from Israelâs prisons, Reuters reports. Qatar has been conducting the negotiations in coordination with the United States, according to the agency.
âThe thousands of political prisoners in Israeli prisons is the most acute concern of Palestinian society, both in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,â Ilan PappĂ©, a Professor of History and Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter, told i.
âSo they hope to force Israel into a prisoners swap. It depends on Israel how long it will be. Hamas has already suggested swapping the 39 women and children [they hold captive].â
Ms Bar-Yaacov suggests it could be years before any such negotiation is successful. In that time, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to launch a ground offensive in Gaza, the situation remains high risk.
âHamas have already announced that four Israeli hostages have been killed in Israeli air raids, although this information has not been verified by any other source yet,â she said.
âItâs the numbers this time, the numbers are unprecedented, coupled with the massacre and the manner in which they were captured. This situation is unprecedented, over 130 hostages in the Gaza strip, so thatâs the main difference.
âIn the past there have been successful negotiations â some of them took many years.â
She added: âI think you can assume safely with 130 hostages, which are presumably not kept in one place, presumably they have spread them out on the [Gaza] Strip, and not kept them together.
âWe now know how heavily armed Hamas are, there is no other option but to negotiate.â
International defence expert Professor Anthony Glees agrees that the release of hostages âis not going to happen any time soonâ.
Any ground offensive without negotiating the release of hostages first puts them at risk of being killed, he added.
âIsrael are going to try and take Gaza apart building-by-building. I think they need to do that because it has been such a big attack. The risk of doing that is they may kill hostages or they may be killed by Hamas.â
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In the short term, hostages could be used as a âhuman shieldâ against any military response from Israel in Gaza, said Tom Wilson, Director of Policy at the Counter Extremism Group.
âIsrael hasnât seen a terrorist hostage taking of civilians on this scale before, unless you go back to the Entebbe hostage taking, âMr Wilson told i.
âThe strategy behind the assault on Israel and the seizing of so many Israelis is not known. However, Hamas is known for using civilians as human shields to deter attacks on its terrorist infrastructure. The group could well attempt to use Israeli civilian hostages as human shields.
âIf Israel launches a major ground incursion into Gaza, as many think probable, then Hamas could threaten to start killing the Israeli hostages to deter Israelâs security operation from advancing into the areas the group holds.
âIt is believed that Israeli children and the elderly are among those kidnapped by Hamas gunmen, so this creates an incredibly difficult situation for Israeli strategists, whatever they do.â
Tzipi Hotovely, Israelâs ambassador to the UK, confirmed at least one British citizen is among those now held captive in Gaza but as many as 10 Britons are feared dead or missing in Israel.
Among those killed in the conflict are 20-year-old Nathanel Young, a Briton serving in the Israeli Defence Services who died at the Gaza border, and Bernard Cowan, from Scotland, whose family said he was âhorrifically murderedâ. Both were killed on Saturday.
Two other UK nationals â Jack Marlowe, 26, and Dan Darlington, a photographer â are believed to be missing.
âI know that Israel is doing everything to make sure all the people being kept hostage at the moment in the hands of Hamas will be released but itâs a long and complicated war,â Mr Hotovely told Sky News.
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Palestinian terror groups have a history of capturing Israelis, although the scale of the current crisis is unprecedented.
In 1994, Israeli soldier Nachshon Wachsman was taken hostage by Hamas in an attempt to disrupt the ongoing peace process.
Israeli intelligence services eventually discovered where he was being held and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin authorised an attempt to rescue him by the military which failed, resulting in Wachsmanâs death along with an Israeli officer.
However more recently, soldier Gilad Shalit was released in 2011 after five years being held capture by Hamas.
During the current conflict, Hamas terrorists are believed to have entered Israel through weaknesses in its border security, including cutting through wire fencing and flying over in paragliders.
But hostages are likely to be smuggled back in through the myriad of underground tunnels which lie beneath Gaza.
Experts suggested the captives are likely to be treated reasonably well because terror groups will see them as highly valuable.
âThey [hostages] will be underground, I assume, they will move them around,â said Ms Bar-Yaacov. âTheyâre very well aware the price they will get in exchange for a live, Israeli citizen is high.
âSo think they will try to keep the wounded alive, they will try to keep as many of them possible alive. [But] currently Hamas is retaliating.
âTheyâve launched rockets at the very heart of Israel, thereâs sirens in Jerusalem, this is ongoing and clearly every time Israel pounds Gaza there will be a knock-on effect on the hostages
âIn other words, theyâre likely to be less kind to the hostages with every bombing in Gaza and Israel knows that full well, from previous experiences.â
Hostages puts pressure on Israeli military response
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing heavy criticism for the security failure, has promised to reduce Gaza to ârubbleâ in response to Saturdayâs attack.
But Prof Pappé suggested this could make the situation more dangerous for Israeli hostages.
âIt is clear that women and children will be kept in reasonable conditions,â he added.
âThe soldiersâ conditions depends on where they will be sheltered as the war progresses.
âIsrael is planning a land invasion to Gaza. This could trigger a war in the north and an uprising in the West Bank.
âIn such a case Israel would be less concerned about them [the prisoners].
âIf a ceasefire is achieved earlier, there is a good chance for a swap.â
Israel has already carried out a significant counter-offensive in Gaza, with reports of air strikes in a number of locations.
Hamas is claiming that one of these strikes killed Israeli captives.
One factor crucial to the fate of the hostages could be the influence of their families.
Given such a large number of Israelis are involved, relatives could form a powerful lobby group that influence Israelâs response.
âThe families will be very heavily involved, not in the negotiations, but theyâre involved in terms of putting pressure on the government to negotiate,â said Ms Bar-Yaacov.
âThere is pressure on the government now to set up a national unity government, and that will happen in my opinion.
âYouâve got tremendous pressure because this government has failed dramatically on so many fronts.â