Hamas shares 'farewell' photo of Israeli captives, warns Gaza war is putting them at risk

Hamas's armed wing has warned that Israel’s captives in Gaza are at risk of dying, as the Israeli government continues to reject a ceasefire to end the nearly two-year war.

The Al-Qassam Brigades shared on its Telegram channel an image with the photos of 47 captives, including those believed to be dead. Under each photo, it wrote the name Ron Arad, referring to an Israeli pilot who disappeared in 1986 after his fighter jet crashed in Lebanon.

He is presumed to have died under unclear circumstances, and Israel was never able to recover his body.

A caption on the image in Arabic read: "Because of [Benjamin] Netanyahu's stubbornness and [Israeli military Chief of Staff Eyal] Zamir's submission: a farewell photo at the start of the operation in Gaza."

Prime Minister Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel's war in Gaza is now widely seen as a genocide.

Israel’s latest offensive on Gaza City which started in early September has killed hundreds of civilians and the destroyed huge swathes of the city.

At least 61 people have been killed on Saturday alone. Netanyahu’s government says it intends to occupy Gaza City.

The offensive has forced around 450,000 Palestinians to flee Gaza City and head south, with around 900,000 still trapped in the territory’s largest city, according to the Gaza government.

The Al-Qassam Brigades issued a statement threatening Israeli forces, vowing to confront them with "an army of martyrs, thousands of ambushes, and engineered explosive devices." The group stressed that "Gaza will not be an easy prey for your army" and declared it is "ready to send the souls of your soldiers to hell."

The statement added that Al-Qassam had "prepared fighters to plant explosive devices inside [Israeli] occupation vehicles" and that bulldozers would be "high-value targets." It also claimed that "Israeli captives are distributed across neighbourhoods in Gaza City," warning that any expansion of the Israeli operation would eliminate the possibility of recovering the captives – either alive or dead.

Israel says around 50 of the 251 captives captured by Palestinian militants on 7 October 2023 are still being held in Gaza, including 20 still alive.

The majority of captives seized by Hamas and other groups that day were released or swapped in exchange for Palestinian detainees in Israel, while some died in Israeli strikes or gunfire.

Ceasefire efforts to end the nearly two-year war have been stalled by Israeli intransigence, and Israel's main ally the United States vetoed for a sixth time on Thursday a UN Security Council resolution to the end war.

Conditions being pushed by Israel include disarming Hamas and stopping the group from governing post-war Gaza.

Hamas has refused to do this without a permanent ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal from the besieged enclave.

A deadly and unprecedented airstrike on Qatar last week which targeted Hamas leaders appeared to be an effort by Israel to sabotage ceasefire negotiations. Despite this, the Palestinian group said it would not pull out of talks and was seeking an end to the war.