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Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Hamas says losses among hostages in Gaza are big

Abu Ubaida stressed that Hamas "has repeatedly warned about the risks to the captives," but the Israeli authorities "have been ignoring these warnings"

CAIRO, February 16. /TASS/. Losses among the hostages held by radical groups in the Gaza Strip have become considerable, Abu Ubaida, spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said.

"Losses among the prisoners [hostages] have become great," the Al Jazeera television channel quoted him as saying.

According to Ubaida, Hamas supporters tried to protect the hostages and "have been taking care of them for months in the interests of the Palestinian people and the release of [Palestinian] prisoners." He stressed that Hamas "has repeatedly warned about the risks to the captives," but the Israeli authorities "have been ignoring these warnings." "Time is running out for the captives," he added.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 240 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.

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Israeli-Palestinian conflict

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