Hamas Threatens Hostage Executions as Israel Pushes Into Gaza City Amid Telecom Blackout, Heavy Fighting

The war in Gaza entered a new phase on Thursday as Israeli tanks and infantry pushed deeper into Gaza City under the cover of a telecommunications blackout, while Hamas warned that Israel’s offensive meant no hostages would be returned, dead or alive.

In a statement, Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, declared: “Your prisoners are distributed within the neighborhoods of Gaza City, and we will not be concerned for their lives as long as Netanyahu has decided to kill them. The commencement of this criminal operation and its expansion means you will not receive any prisoner, neither alive nor dead, and their fate will be the same as that of Ron Arad.” The reference was to an Israeli Air Force officer captured in Lebanon in 1986 and never recovered. Hamas added bluntly: “Gaza will be a graveyard for your soldiers.”

The threat came as Israeli officials privately acknowledged to hostage families that they lacked precise knowledge of where the captives were being held—contradicting earlier assurances that military operations were carefully targeting areas thought to contain them. Around 48 hostages remain in Gaza from the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, with Israeli authorities estimating that only about 20 are still alive. Families have been pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt the ground assault and negotiate for their release, but their appeals have so far gone unanswered.

On the battlefield, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that its forces were advancing through Gaza City’s eastern approaches, including Sheikh Radwan and Tel al-Hawa, with the aim of reaching the city’s central and western districts where hundreds of thousands of civilians are sheltering. Military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said infantry, tanks, artillery, and air power were moving forward in a “gradual process” that would intensify in the coming days. At least 85 Palestinians were reported killed in the last 24 hours, most in Gaza City, while Israel said four of its soldiers died in combat in southern Gaza.

The push was accompanied by a major communications blackout. The Palestinian Telecommunications Company reported its services were knocked offline after network routes were damaged in Israeli strikes. By nightfall, partial internet and landline connections were restored, but residents described the outage as a “bad omen.” Many Palestinians fled southward during the blackout, but far more remain in the city—some in ruined homes, others in makeshift tents.

The humanitarian cost of the war continues to mount. Gaza’s health ministry said the Palestinian death toll over two years of fighting has now surpassed 65,000. Israel, for its part, continues to frame the operation as a fight to destroy Hamas, with Defense Minister Israel Katz vowing on X: “If Hamas does not release the hostages and disarm, Gaza will be destroyed and turned into a monument to the rapists and murderers of Hamas.”

Meanwhile, the conflict spilled beyond Gaza’s borders. Israel launched strikes on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon, and two Israelis were killed in a separate attack at the Allenby Crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan, which the military labeled a terror attack.

As Israel intensifies its ground campaign and Hamas hardens its threats, the fate of the remaining hostages—and the civilians caught in the crossfire—hangs in deep uncertainty.

Credit: www.salienttimesonline.com.ng