The leader of the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yehya al-Sinwar, recently inspected areas where there have been clashes between the militant group and Israeli forces, a senior Hamas official told the Qatar-based newspaper Al-Araby Al- Jadeed.
Al-Sinwar has led the movement on the ground and reports of him “isolated in the tunnels” are merely claims by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his authorities “to cover up their failure to achieve the goals stated on the Israeli street.” his allies,” the official said.
Al-Sinwar recently met with some of the movement’s fighters on the ground – not in the tunnels – and also briefed Hamas leaders abroad, providing them with “accurate figures and field reports on the strength of the resistance and its ability to confront the occupying forces.” , the source added.
Israel believes that the Hamas leadership, including al-Sinwar, is hiding in underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian militant organization released another video of a hostage kidnapped from Israel.
The video released on Wednesday shows a 24-year-old man making allegations against the Israeli government. He accused the government of failing to protect Israeli citizens and abandoning them.
It was initially unclear under what circumstances the video was made and whether the man spoke of his own free will or under threat.
The recording was also undated. The Hamas massacre that sparked the conflict in Gaza occurred 201 days ago on Wednesday. The man kidnapped from the Nova music festival also said in the video that 70 hostages in the Gaza Strip had been killed by Israeli airstrikes.
Spontaneous protests broke out in Israel on Wednesday evening following the publication of a Hamas hostage video.
According to several media reports, hundreds of people gathered in Jerusalem near Netanyahu’s residence to demonstrate for the release of the hostages.
Among the demonstrators were friends of the kidnapped young man seen in the video. Protesters clashed with police.
According to police reports, protesters lit fires and fireworks and overturned trash cans. They also blocked traffic. Security forces tried to disperse them. At least four people were arrested.
For months, protesters have been calling on the Israeli government to reach another deal with Hamas to secure the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas has reportedly rejected proposals from international mediators. In return, Israel is not prepared to meet all of Hamas’ demands. Relatives of the abductees also accuse the government of standing in the way of a hostage deal.
According to its own statements, Israel currently does not know how many of the people kidnapped in the Gaza Strip are dead or under what conditions they died.
Until a few weeks ago, Israel assumed that almost 100 of the 130 remaining hostages were still alive. However, there are now fears that significantly more of them may already be dead.
“The hostages are dying out; it is estimated that less than half of them are still alive,” the Israeli news site ynet recently reported.
The people kidnapped from Israel are in an “underground hell” without food, water or medical treatment, the kidnapped man said in the video published by Hamas’ military wing, the so-called Qassam Brigades. He also called on the Israeli government to bring the hostages home.
The photos show the young man with a missing forearm. According to Israeli media, his forearm was torn off when Gaza terrorists threw grenades or artillery fire into a hideout where he and others had taken shelter on October 7.
According to Israeli media reports, the man is Israeli-American.
The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre with more than 1,200 deaths that militants from the Palestinian Hamas movement and other Islamist groups carried out in Israel on October 7th.
Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. In view of the high number of civilian casualties and the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, Israel is increasingly coming under international criticism.