The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas announced in a video posted on Telegram on Monday December 2, that 33 Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip have been killed since October 7 last year. The movement said that the majority of those captives were killed in Israeli airstrikes across the besieged enclave. The video mentioned the incidents in which the captives were killed in a chronological order, indicating that some captives have been missing due to the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza.
The video is the first time that Hamas has published an official death toll of the captives held in Gaza since October 7. The release of the video came two days after the movement published a video message of US-Israeli captive Edan Alexander, in which he urged the United States President-elect Donald Trump to secure his release from captivity.
“To President Trump, I am an American-Israeli citizen currently held captive in the Gaza Strip. As an American, I have always believed in the power of the United States, and now I am sending my message,” Alexander said in the video.
“Please use your influence and the full power of the United States to negotiate for our freedom. Every day here feels like an eternity, and the pain within us grows from day to day. Please do not make the same mistake Joe Biden has been doing.The weapons he has sent are now killing us, and the unlawful sieges are now starving us. I don’t want to end up dead,” the Israeli captive added.
Although Axios reported on Friday, November 29, that Trump seeks a ceasefire in Gaza and a captives-for-prisoners swap deal before he assumes office on January 20, the US President-elect threatened on his platform on Truth Social on Monday that “there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East” if the Israeli captives are not released by his inauguration.
“Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity. Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”, Trump wrote.
Resumption of Gaza ceasefire talks
The timing of the death toll video and Alexander’s message alongside Trump’s stern warning, coincided with the resumption of Gaza ceasefire talks in Egypt after a delegation from the movement arrived in Egypt’s capital Cairo on Saturday, November 30.
In this regard, Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted a senior Hamas official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stating that the movement is open to “all ideas and proposals”, although it has “not received any new offer or proposal so far.
It is worth noting that Qatar, one of three main mediators in the talks, announced the suspension of its mediation around one month ago until the concerned parties show their “willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war and the ongoing suffering of civilians caused by catastrophic humanitarian conditions in the Strip”.
According to media reports, Hamas has also been holding discussions with the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah), which leads the Palestinian Authority, in Cairo during the last two days regarding Egyptian proposals for reopening the Rafah border crossing.
Through these discussions, Egypt has reportedly been attempting to strengthen reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah. Moreover, the discussions between the two Palestinian factions aim at addressing Gaza’s post-war governance deal, which suggests bringing Gaza under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA), according to Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.
The Egyptian Minister said during a news conference on Monday that the two groups are “consulting and deliberating to quickly reach a mutual understanding regarding the management of daily affairs in the Gaza Strip under the full control of the Palestinian Authority”.
Apparently, the pressure exerted on Hamas has been mounting not only by the US administration and regional actors, such as Qatar, but also by the Palestinian Authority, which has been in power struggle with Hamas since 2007. All these actors seem to have exploited the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which led to leaving Hamas fighting the Zionist entity alone, for making political gains.
The recent developments in Syria also indicate that the US and Israel are determined to eradicate resistance against the Israeli occupation not only in Gaza, but everywhere the Axis of Resistance has influence.
