Hamas: Israel responsible for death of six captives

Al-Risheq also blamed the United States for its “bias, support and partnership” in the 11-month war on the besieged territory.

The official stated that Hamas cares more about the lives of its prisoners than President Joe Biden does, emphasising that the group had accepted his proposal and the United Nations Security Council resolution.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the proposal and the resolution and his administration conceded to the PM’s demands, which were intended to obstruct reaching an agreement to maintain his power, al-Risheq added.

Senior Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya has also blamed Netanyahu for the deaths of six Israeli hostages.

Al-Hayya added that dozens of hostages in Gaza had been killed by Israeli “strikes along with those who were sitting, guarding, and living with them”.

Israel’s military has announced that its troops have recovered the bodies of six captives, including a dual US national, from a tunnel in southern Gaza, as it continued its 11-month long military onslaught on the Palestinian enclave. It claimed that the captives were killed not long before their bodies were recovered.

Netanyahu has pledged to “settle the score” with Hamas, saying “we will hunt you down”. “Those who kill hostages do not want an agreement” for a Gaza truce, Netanyahu added.

But a forum of captives’ families, who have been critical of Netanyahu’s handling of the issue, called for a massive protest later on Sunday, demanding a “complete halt of the country” to push for the implementation of a ceasefire and release of the remaining captives.

“A deal for the return of the hostages has been on the table for over two months. Were it not for the delays, sabotage, and excuses those whose deaths we learned about this morning would likely still be alive. It’s time to bring our hostages home,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum announced in a statement.

In a statement, Biden said he was “devastated and outraged” of the death of the six captives, including Israeli-American Goldberg-Polin.

Biden, whose administration has has backed and funded Israeli bombardment of Gaza, pledged that “Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages”.

A ceasefire deal put forth by Biden in May, which called for release of captives, was rejected by Netanyahu.

About 100 captives still remain in Gaza while 105 were released in a deal with Hamas, which has set ceasefire as a condition to release the remaining captives.

But Israel has been accused of war crimes and atrocities against Palestinians. The International Criminal Court persecutor has sought arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes. Warrants were also requested for two Hamas leaders.

More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched war on Gaza on October 7 following an attack led by Palestinian group Hamas that left more than 1,200 people dead. The Palestinian fighters took about 250 captives in the wake of the attack.

The coastal enclave has since been turned into rubble amid non-stop bombardment as Israel has been accused of stalling a ceasefire deal to free the captives.