Israel’s use of military to release captives will result in more deaths: Al-Qassam

The military wing of the Hamas resistance movement has warned that more Israelis will be killed if the regime keeps using military means to release them from captivity in the Gaza Strip.

“Military pressure equals death and failure. An exchange deal equals freedom and life,” read the caption of a poster published on Monday by the al-Qassam Brigades.

The poster depicted a resistance fighter holding a handgun bearing the logo of the al-Qassam Brigades' Shadow Unit, and an Israeli soldier in the background sitting in a tunnel with his head bowed down.

Reiterating the warning, Abu Obeida, spokesman for the al-Qassam Brigades, said Israeli captives would return to the occupied territories “in coffins” if Israel insists on military pressure instead of a prisoner exchange deal to free those held in Gaza.

“[Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s insistence on freeing the captives through military pressure instead of reaching a deal means they will go back to their families in coffins. Their families have to choose between receiving them dead or alive,” he said.

Netanyahu and the Israeli military “intentionally hindered” a prisoner swap and thus they are “fully responsible” for the death of Israeli captives, he added.

The remarks came two days after the occupation’s military found the bodies of six captives in a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Hamas said they were killed in Israeli airstrikes.

Abu Obeida said since June, the al-Qassam Brigades has been operating under new instructions on how to handle Israeli captives should the regime forces approach their locations in Gaza.

The death of the six captives ignited fury among Israelis who have for months denounced Netanyahu’s policy of torpedoing a deal with Hamas in favor of his political interests.

Protesters flood streets in Israel after 6 captives found dead

Hundreds of thousands of protesters have flooded the streets of Tel Aviv and the occupied city of al-Quds to demand a deal to secure the release of Israeli captives held in Gaza.

On Sunday and Monday, thousands of Israelis staged the largest anti-regime demonstration since October 7, 2023, when Israel unleashed a genocidal war on the besieged Gaza.

They took to the streets in the occupied lands and joined a general strike to call for an immediate ceasefire deal in Gaza.

Israeli media reported clashes during the protests outside Netanyahu’s residence in the occupied al-Quds and the headquarters of his Likud party in Tel Aviv, saying dozens of people were arrested.

Israel launched its brutal Gaza onslaught after Hamas carried out a surprise operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

During its operation, Hamas took 251 Israelis captive, 97 of whom now remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the occupation's army.

After 11 months of Gaza offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has failed to achieve its declared objectives of eliminating Hamas and freeing captives, despite killing almost 40,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

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