Netanyahu shocked by scenes of prisoners in Gaza and Hamas: We preserved them despite your repeated attempts to eliminate them

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that "the cruel and horrific scenes of the hostages in Gaza will not go unnoticed." In contrast, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) confirmed that the resistance preserved the Israeli prisoners despite Netanyahu's repeated attempts to eliminate them during the war on Gaza.

This came in a statement issued by Netanyahu's office, commenting on scenes of the Qassam Brigades releasing 3 Israeli prisoners in the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, as part of the fifth batch of the exchange deal, within the framework of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement that went into effect on January 19.

The three Israeli prisoners left with thin bodies, unlike previous exchange batches, as previous prisoners left in good health. Observers attributed their health condition to the starvation policy that Israel followed in the Gaza Strip throughout the months of genocide.

Netanyahu's office added in a statement that "the Israeli government is committed to recovering all the kidnapped and missing, and that it has sent a strict message to the mediators that it will not let these scenes pass."

For his part, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said, "This is a crime against humanity. The three prisoners returned from the hell of captivity that lasted 491 days, emaciated and damaged, and the killers exploited them in cynical and evil rituals."

Despite the official and media anger in Israel over the health condition of the three prisoners, the Israel Hayom newspaper quoted the medical team that conducted an initial examination of them, saying that their condition does not require immediate medical intervention.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent announced that 6 released Palestinian prisoners were transferred to hospitals due to their poor health conditions.

Opposition position

According to Palestinian human rights organizations, Israel detains more than 10,000 Palestinians in its prisons, including about 600 sentenced to life imprisonment.

In the first phase of the agreement, which consists of three stages, each lasting 42 days, the terms stipulate the gradual release of 33 Israelis held in Gaza, whether alive or dead, in exchange for a number of Palestinian and Arab detainees estimated at between 1,700 and 2,000.

With American support, between October 7, 2023 and January 19, 2025, Israel committed genocide in Gaza, leaving more than 159,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 14,000 missing, and one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.

Source: Al Jazeera + Agencies