Top Hamas official claims ‘no one has any idea’ how many Israeli hostages are still alive
A top Hamas official claimed Thursday “no one has any idea” how many of the remaining 120 Israeli hostages in Gaza are still alive.
Osama Hamdan also addressed the recent cease-fire proposal rejected by Hamas that called for some of the hostages held by the terrorist group to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails during an interview with CNN.
While Israel believes more than 70 of the 120 hostages are still alive, Hamdan claimed he didn’t know what the correct figure was.
“I don’t have any idea about that,” he told CNN from a Beirut office. “No one has an idea about this.”
He then shockingly blamed Israel for the suffering of the four hostages recently rescued by Israeli forces after a doctor said they were abused mentally and physically.
“I believe if they have mental problem, this is because of what Israel have done in Gaza,” he outrageously suggested.
He wildly claimed the hostages came out of Gaza looking better than when they were taken.
Hamdan also expressed no regret for Hamas’ sneak assault on Israel last October, leading the Jewish state to launch a military campaign in Gaza that has killed thousands of Palestinians and turned most of the area into rubble.
He told CNN the attack by Hamas was “a reaction against the occupation” as he pointed the finger at Israel.
Hamdan then rejected a report in the Wall Street Journal that states Hamas’ chief in Gaza Yahya Sinwar said the deaths of Palestinians were “necessary sacrifices” in leaked messages to other officials.
“It was fake messages done by someone who is not Palestinian and (it) was sent (to the) Wall Street Journal as part of the pressure against Hamas and provoking the people against the leader,” he said, though didn’t provide proof.
“No one can accept the killing of the Palestinians, of his own people.”
The interview comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken blamed Hamas for refusing a UN-backed cease-fire proposal, which he said is almost identical to the one Hamas put forward last month.
Hamdan claimed the proposed deal didn’t meet the terror group’s demands that would end the war.
Hamas needed “a clear position from Israel to accept the ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from Gaza, and let the Palestinians to determine their future by themselves, the reconstruction, the (lifting) of the siege … and we are ready to talk about a fair deal about the prisoners exchange,” he said.
