Hamas releases audio of Israeli soldiers allegedly held by it | Israeli-Palestinian Conflict News

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Al Jazeera broadcasted the audio of an unidentified person in Arabic who claimed to be an Israeli soldier captured by the Qassam Brigade, the armed branch of Hamas.

In the audio clip played on Sunday episode Regarding the tip of the iceberg of the investigation series, the person said that he “wants to know and hope that Israel still exists. If so, I want to know whether the leaders of this country will think of captured soldiers and care about their release”.

He added: “I am dying again every day,” saying that he hopes to be reunited with his family as soon as possible. “Please help,” he pleaded.

This is the first time that the al-Qassam brigade has disclosed such recordings.

Israeli captives

According to reports, Hamas has stated that it has detained two Israeli soldiers, Hadar Golding and Oron Sauer, who were captured during the 2014 war, and two former soldiers Hisham Said and Ahmad. Vera Mengistu, they entered Gaza under unknown circumstances.

Since their arrest, Hamas has not revealed the fate of the four people, but Israel claims that two soldiers were killed in the war and Hamas only kept their remains.

After the show was broadcast, some Israeli commentators said that the person heard in the recording was Mengistu, an Ethiopian Israeli prisoner. Israel News Channel 12 also reported that Israeli defense officials are trying to determine whether it is really Mengistu.

However, Israeli media reported that Mengistu’s mother believed that the voice heard in the recording did not belong to her son.

“I can definitely say that this is not my son’s voice, this is not his voice,” Aganesh Mengistu told Israel’s Kan Public Broadcasting Corporation. “I am waiting for my son and hope to see him soon.”

The Israeli government prisoners and missing persons coordinator Yaron Blum dismissed the release of the video as “cheap manipulation by Hamas.”

Bloom said Israel “fully understood” the soldiers’ condition and refuted Hamas’s claim that the two soldiers might still be alive.

Girard Shalit’s lens

The tip of the iceberg Aired previously undisclosed footage Photo of former Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit during his imprisonment by Hamas. After being kidnapped during a border operation, he was detained by Hamas from 2006 to 2011.

Video clips show Shalit performing daily activities, including exercising, shaving, tying shoelaces and playing ball.

The report presents the exclusive documents of the members of the Qassam brigade who allegedly participated in the arrest of Shalit on June 5, 2006, and the exchange of prisoners five years later.

“I started shooting and throwing grenades into the tank. We arrived in front of the tank and a terrified soldier came out of the turret and surrendered. We were ordered to take him away,” reportedly participated in the capture of Shalit with six others Said an unnamed Hamas member.

Marwan Issa, deputy commander of the Qassam brigade, told Al Jazeera that after Shalit was arrested, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and some Egyptian mediators contacted them and demanded Shalit’s release.

“We moved him from one place to another to protect him. The Palestinian Authority and Egypt tried to quietly end this matter,” Issa said.

From right: Noam Shalit, his son Gilad Shalit, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the then Minister of Defense Ehud Barak at Gilad Shalit After being released in 2011 at Tel Nof Air Force Base [File: Reuters]

Issa said: “Israel has tried more than once to kidnap senior Hamas figures, including Ahmed Jabari, and provide large sums of money to anyone willing to provide information about Shalit, but without success.” Jabari Is the second in command of the Kassam brigade.

Shalit was released in 2011 in exchange for the release of 1,027 Palestinians. Hamas members handed him over to the Egyptian mediator, and he was taken by helicopter to Tel Nof Air Base in central Israel, where he was greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reunited with his family.

Former Israeli leader Ehud Olmert told Al Jazeera that as prime minister, he rejected the agreement to release Shalit, citing the “high price” demanded by Hamas.

According to the report, Gerhard Conrad has served as a senior mediator for the German Federal Intelligence Agency (BND) for decades, and he played an important role in the negotiations to release Shalit.

Conrad also played a key role in the 2004 Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah and Israel’s exchange of prisoners under the impetus of the German BND.



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