Qassam responds to a former Israeli prisoner regarding her husband’s condition: He may have been killed, injured, or in good health

The Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), published a new recording in which it responded to a plea from a former Israeli prisoner for a video clip showing the condition of her husband who is still in captivity.

Sharon Konio, an Israeli prisoner who was released in the first exchange deal in late November 2023, appealed to the Palestinian resistance in a video message addressed to her to broadcast a video recording showing the condition of her husband, David Konio, who is still a prisoner in Gaza.

The Qassam clip began with part of the prisoner's message and scenes of her with her husband and their two daughters, then scenes during her release and the two girls during the exchange deal.

The clip then included the Qassam Brigades’ response, which came in three languages: Arabic, Hebrew, and English. It read: “David, after you left and the military pressure increased, he was either killed, injured, or in good health, and Netanyahu has not decided yet.”

Hours before this clip, Al-Qassam had published a short introductory clip that included the prisoner’s message, in which she also wrote in the three languages: “Soon… time is running out.”

A masterstroke.. #AlQassam_Brigades responds to the request of the wife of prisoner David with a video of less than a minute, keeping him and his situation in a circle of mystery and telling her "Netanyahu has not decided yet" .. pic.twitter.com/h0a1SDMobl

— 🇵🇸 Adham Abu Salmiya (@AdhamPal922) January 11, 2025

Despair is growing among the families of Israeli detainees as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government continues to obstruct a deal to return their sons, while demonstrations demanding a swap agreement continue.

In recent months, the Al-Qassam Brigades and the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, have published videos of Israeli prisoners demanding that their government conclude a deal to return them to their homes, holding Netanyahu responsible for their fate.

Yesterday, Friday, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority quoted foreign sources as saying that Israel had agreed to advance negotiations on the second phase of the prisoner exchange deal with the Palestinian factions in Gaza, in parallel with the implementation of the first phase, amid the ongoing war of extermination in the Strip, while negotiations continue in Doha.

Last December, Hamas announced the killing of 33 Israeli prisoners who were being held by it, most of whom were killed by the Israeli occupation army’s bombing of various areas of the Gaza Strip since the start of the aggression in October 2023.

The prisoner exchange negotiations, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, have stumbled more than once due to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on maintaining control over the Philadelphi Corridor on the border between Gaza and Egypt and the Rafah crossing, and preventing the return of Palestinian faction fighters to northern Gaza by searching returnees through the Netzarim corridor in the middle of the Strip.

In contrast, Hamas insists on a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and a complete cessation of war in order to accept any agreement.

Source: Al Jazeera