A senior Hamas official has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to starve Israeli hostages in Gaza after failing to locate and kill them in airstrikes.
In a statement on Sunday, Hamas political bureau member Izzat al-Rishq said that the starvation policy imposed by Netanyahu and the “Nazi government” on the Gaza population was now affecting Israeli prisoners.
He placed full responsibility for their plight on the Israeli government.
Al-Rishq said that Palestinian resistance forces were treating Israeli hostages in accordance with religious and humanitarian principles, sharing food and water with them as they do with the wider Palestinian population.
He recalled that in previous prisoner exchanges, Israeli prisoners had been released in good physical and mental health, but claimed that they were now suffering from hunger, weakness and weight loss – reflecting the dire situation of Gazans under siege.
Netanyahu’s oppression of the people of Gaza is also affecting the hostages, and he is trying to discipline them with cruel starvation, he said.
Al-Rishq claimed that the hunger policy in Gaza is part of Netanyahu’s strategy to resolve the hostage situation.
“When Netanyahu could not find the hostages and kill them with airstrikes, he is now trying to end the matter with starvation,” he said.
Tel Aviv estimates that 50 Israelis are still being held in Gaza, including 20 who are believed to be alive. Meanwhile, Israel holds more than 10,800 Palestinian detainees, many of whom face torture, starvation and medical neglect, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli military has been carrying out brutal attacks on Gaza since October 7, 2023, killing more than 60,800 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
In November last year, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide charge before the International Court of Justice over the war in the enclave.
