With the numbers issued by Hamas and Israel regarding the number of hostages transferred to the Gaza Strip since the conflict erupted last week, what is most mysterious is where the prisoners were hidden.
Several countries are making efforts to conclude a deal to exchange prisoners between the Palestinian factions and Israel, especially women and children, including Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar, and there is also news about China’s willingness to play an active role in the crisis.
Number of hostages
In the latest statistics, Admiral Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesman for the Israeli army, spoke at a press conference on Monday, that there were 199 prisoners, and their families had been informed of this.
Israel had previously spoken of 155 prisoners, while the spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubaida, the military wing of the Hamas movement, announced on Monday evening that the total number of prisoners in Gaza ranged between 200 and 250, 22 of whom were killed in an Israeli bombing that targeted the Strip. .
The Israeli authorities have not yet provided specific details regarding the identities of the dead prisoners, but military officials said that they included elderly people and children, and most of them were captured from small Israeli border towns.
The stage of no solution in Gaza… unless
Prisoners from several countries
Not all of the prisoners are Israeli. It is likely that they include many other nationalities, especially since a number of countries, such as the United States, China, France, and Britain, reported losing their citizens in Israel.
The Pentagon sent a small team of special operations forces to Israel to assist with intelligence and planning to help locate and rescue the hostages.
Hamas also admitted that it has prisoners of other nationalities, and the movement uses them as a card to pressure their countries on Israel not to carry out a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. Out of concern for their lives, according to analysts, Hamas also hopes that all Palestinian prisoners will be released in exchange for the prisoners it holds.
Transferring prisoners from one place to another
The American researcher specializing in international affairs, Irina Zuckerman, gives Sky News Arabia her expectations regarding the locations of the prisoners, and the problem facing Hamas in keeping them, especially if the conflict lasts for a long time:
Most likely, the hostages are not all being held in the same places, especially tunnels, at the same time, and Hamas may have secret underground cities as shown by photos of missile tunnels released by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing.
Hamas fighters are stationed at a depth of up to 30 or 40 meters underground, and are spread out of strike range, and rocket launcher batteries hidden a few meters deep can emerge through the trapdoor system to fire and disappear again.
It is likely that Hamas used its maze of tunnels to get them into Gaza, connected to secret entrances to regular residences, hospitals, where Hamas’s headquarters are located, or other areas.
With the presence of more than 200 people, many of whom are disabled or children and the elderly who cannot be transported easily, Hamas faces the dilemma of finding other places to transport them, especially since it is important for it to keep hostages in different locations so as not to lose them all, and to maintain a strong negotiating position. And also to complicate any air strikes or ground operations by the Israeli army. For this reason, they will likely bring some underground, and those who do not require severe medical care, but are able to walk on their own, may be brought to the surface in different areas.
#Hamas #hide #hostages #Israel
2023-10-18 03:43:25
