Hamas, the governing group in Gaza, Palestine, has released what it calls “farewell photos” of 48 prisoners under their custody through their military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades. Hamas launched a jihadi attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in response to the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza, taking about 250 people as prisoners. The war that Israel started in retaliation is still ongoing. Israel continues to intensify and expand its military attacks on Gaza in an attempt to colonize the entire strip.
While Hamas has released Israeli prisoners on several occasions, it is believed that only about 20 prisoners currently remain alive under Hamas custody. Hamas maintains that the loss of prisoners’ lives is due to the Israeli attacks on Gaza. They repeatedly warn that the more Israel expands its military operations, the greater the danger to the prisoners’ lives. At this juncture, as Israel significantly increases its attacks to bring the entire Gaza under its control, Hamas has released the prisoners’ photos in the form of a poster. Next to each photo on the poster is written “Ron Arad”. Ron Arad is the name of an Israeli Air Force captain who went missing in Lebanon in 1986. Arad’s F-4 Phantom military jet was hit by a bomb prematurely while attempting to bomb Lebanon. After this incident, he was captured by the Amal Movement and later handed over to Hezbollah. Although Arad is presumed dead, no evidence has been found to support this.
The poster released by Hamas further states that due to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to stop the war and the weakness of the Israeli military chief, Herzi Halevi, Israeli attacks on Gaza City have increased, leading to the release of these farewell photos of the prisoners.
