Accusing the Israeli government of lying to the families of Israelis held in the Gaza Strip, Hamas said Israel still has the opportunity to recover missing captives and the remains of fallen soldiers.
Abu Obeida, a spokesperson for Hamas' military wing made the remarks in a speech marking the fifth anniversary of the 2014 Gaza conflict, Tuesday.
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"The occupation government has practiced misleading and lying in the case of soldiers captured and missing in Gaza," the Hamas official said in a live address Tuesday evening.
The Gaza-based Hamas terrorist organization is holding the remains of two Israeli soldiers, Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul and Lt. Hadar Goldin, killed in the Gaza Strip in 2014. Ethiopian Israeli Avera Mengistu and Bedouin Israeli Hisham al-Sayed, both suffering from mental health issues, crossed into Gaza willingly in 2014 and 2015 and were captured by the terrorist group.
"To the families of the captured soldiers, ask [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu], [former Defense Minister Moshe] Ya'alon and [former IDF chief Benny] Gantz where they left your children. Ask Rafi Peretz, the army's chief rabbi, how they mislead you with certain information for cheap political ends."
"There is an opportunity to resolve the issue of prisoners and missing persons if the enemy's leadership is serious," Obeida said.
"We warn that the file of the prisoners may be subject to closure completely as in the case of Ron Arad," Obeida concluded, referring to an Israeli pilot presumed dead after he went missing in action during a 1986 mission over Lebanon.
This article was originally published by i24NEWS.
