Everything, and I do mean e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g, that comes from the mouth of Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson Abu Obaida, should be viewed through the prism of extremist propaganda. Hamas is doing and saying everything possible to manipulate media and create pressure on Israel in advance of the ground invasion.
That said, Abu Obaida is claiming that “at least” 250 hostages were taken during the terrorist attack on October 7th, yet some of the hostages were not taken by official Hamas groups, but by other members of the Palestinian resistance who crossed the border behind Hamas to retrieve hostages “for their own purposes.”
The number of non-Hamas hostages is claimed to be around 50, possibly more, and they were likely abducted for pathological purposes, ie. torture for fun and Palestinian enjoyment, community abuse to be recorded for celebratory purposes, public rape and sex slavery, along with other forms of horrific human degradation. [If any of these people are factually still alive, they would likely be better off dead.]
Abu Obaida is claiming that Hamas officially has 200 hostages, and “some” of them are foreign nationals. They are willing to release the “foreign nationals” unconditionally when passage is safe. This “foreign nationals” part of the claim appears intended to target the international community of public opinion – to put pressure on Israel to back off.
Richard Engel (MSNBC) has a video report here. Although, I would caution you to review this narrative with extreme cynicism. Time Magazine has also reviewed the Abu Obaida video statement, and their review/analysis is below:
(GAZA – Newsweek) – The spokesperson for Hamas’ military wing has announced that the group is prepared to release non-Israeli prisoners among at least 200 people in custody once their safety could be guaranteed amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes against the Gaza Strip.
Speaking in a 10-minute video published Monday, Al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson Abu Obaida said that, while he could not provide an exact count of the number of people seized in the shocking Palestinian air, land and sea assault conducted on October 7, he estimated the total figure to be “between 200 and 250, or exceeding that.”
“The Al-Qassam Brigades has about 200 prisoners and the rest are distributed among other components of the resistance or in places in which we cannot count them,” Abu Obaida said.
He stated that 22 prisoners have been killed so far in Israeli airstrikes, but that the group was treating all those taken fairly.
“We deal with prisoners according to the dictates of the teachings of our religion,” Abu Obaida said. “Their care is required by moral and humanitarian duty. They eat what we eat, they drink what we drink, and they live under the same conditions as all the people in Gaza.”
He said that among the captives were those of “different nationalities” that could not be verified in full as a result of the ongoing wartime conditions.
“They are our guests we seek to protect them and the moment the conditions on the ground allow we will release them,” Abu Obaida said. (read more)
