(TJV NEWS) Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades released a disturbing image on Saturday showing all 48 of the remaining Israeli hostages, each labeled with the name “Ron Arad” and assigned a number, according to Times of Israel. The terror group described the picture as a “farewell photo” ahead of ongoing Israeli military operations in Gaza City.
As Times of Israel reported, the message was clear: the lives of the captives would not be safeguarded while the IDF’s ground campaign continues. On Thursday, Hamas issued a statement claiming the hostages had been scattered across neighborhoods throughout Gaza City, warning, “we will not be concerned for their lives as long as Netanyahu has decided to kill them. The initiation of this criminal operation and its expansion means that you will not retrieve any hostage, neither alive nor dead.”
The statement was issued under the name “the Leadership of the Hamas Military Wing” rather than the group’s longtime spokesman Abu Obeida. As Times of Israel noted, this lends weight to Israeli assessments that Obeida was killed in the fighting.
Hamas further threatened that “the fate of all the hostages will be like the fate of Ron Arad,” the Israeli Air Force navigator abducted by the Amal terror group in Lebanon in 1986 and later declared dead by Israel in 2016. The chilling reference underscores Hamas’s intent to use the hostages as leverage while hinting at a grim outcome, Times of Israel reported.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces have pressed deeper into Gaza City. The IDF confirmed that its 162nd Division is continuing its maneuvers inside the city, intensifying pressure on Hamas positions.
At the same time, hostage families are voicing their anguish and fury in Jerusalem. Relatives of Matan Angrest, Matan Zangauker, Guy Illouz, and Rom Braslavski gathered outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence, demanding urgent action to secure the release of their loved ones. As Times of Israel recounted, the protests reflected growing frustration with the government’s military-first approach and fears that time is running out.
Idan Zonshine contributed reporting, according to Times of Israel.
