GAZA CITY, Palestine/ISTANBUL

Hamas warned on Thursday that it will not protect the lives of Israeli hostages in Gaza as long as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pursues a campaign that seeks to kill them through occupation of Gaza City and displacement of Palestinians.

“Your captives are dispersed across neighborhoods in Gaza City, and we will not safeguard their lives as long as Netanyahu has decided to kill them,” the group's armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement.

It warned Israelis that the expansion of the military operation in Gaza “means you will not recover any hostage, alive or dead, and their fate will be the same as that of Ron Arad.”

Ron Arad, an Israeli soldier, went missing in southern Lebanon in 1986. Media reports suggest he was captured by the Lebanese Amal Movement and handed over to Hezbollah during the conflict between Israel and Lebanon from 1985 to 2000.

In 2006, former Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah denied knowing Arad’s fate and said in an interview that he believed Arad was “dead and lost.”

The Israeli military began its offensive on Gaza City on Aug. 11 from the Zeitoun neighborhood in the southeast, in an operation later named “Gideon’s Chariots 2.” The assault has involved demolition of homes using explosive drones, artillery shelling, random gunfire, and forced displacement.

On Wednesday evening, witnesses reported the advance of Israeli heavy machinery, including tanks, into new areas in northwestern Gaza City neighborhoods.

“We tell the enemy’s military and political leadership: Gaza will not be easy prey for your cowardly army. We do not fear you and are ready to send your soldiers’ lives to hell,” the statement went on.

“You are entering a grueling war of attrition that will cost you additional casualties and hostages. Our fighters are trained to place explosives inside your vehicles, and your bulldozers will be high-value targets, increasing the number of captives we hold.”

Israel estimates that 48 Israeli hostages are currently in Gaza, including 20 believed to be alive. Meanwhile, roughly 11,000 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, many suffering from torture, starvation, and medical neglect, with numerous deaths reported, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.

Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians since October 2023 and devastated the enclave, which faces famine.

Israel is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its war in the territory.