Hamas announced on Friday that it will not relocate Israeli hostages currently held in parts of Gaza where the IDF has issued evacuation warnings, placing the blame on Israel should anything happen to the captives.
The Israel Defense Forces recently ordered evacuations from several areas, including Rafah, Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood, and northern parts of the Strip. These directives came approximately two and a half weeks after fighting resumed due to the collapse of a ceasefire and hostage deal.
“Half of the living Israeli prisoners are located in areas which the Israeli occupation army has requested to be evacuated in recent days,” said Hudhaifa Kahlout — better known as Abu Obeida — who serves as the spokesperson for Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.
“We have decided not to transfer these prisoners from these areas, and to keep them under strict security measures, which are extremely dangerous to their lives,” Abu Obeida stated in a message released in Arabic, Hebrew, and English.
He continued by saying, “if the enemy is concerned about the lives of these prisoners, they must immediately negotiate their evacuation or release.”
“The Netanyahu government bears full responsibility for the lives of the prisoners. Had they been concerned about them, they would have adhered to the agreement signed in January. Most of them would probably be in their homes today,” Abu Obeida added.
In the past, Hamas has threatened to kill hostages if Israeli troops moved close to their holding locations. In one such case in August, six hostages were executed in Rafah while IDF operations were underway nearby.
This latest warning from Hamas came shortly after the military revealed that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir met on Friday with relatives of hostages still held in Gaza.
Since assuming his position last month, Zamir has held weekly meetings with hostage families, and the IDF said he plans to continue doing so in the coming weeks.
During Friday’s gathering, Zamir outlined the military’s current objectives in Gaza and emphasized that securing the return of the hostages remains “a supreme goal.”
Nevertheless, many of the hostages’ families have expressed concern that the ongoing military operations in Gaza are endangering their loved ones rather than bringing them closer to freedom.
Among the critics is Jon Polin, father of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the hostages killed in a Hamas tunnel last August. In a post on X Friday, Polin took aim at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership during the conflict and beyond.
“Not everything is political. Some things are simply human. The exemplary people of Israel deserve more. Do things with broad consensus. Bring back our 59 loved ones.
“Accept responsibility, say ‘I’m sorry,’ [establish] a national commission of inquiry, [advance] a fair sharing of national service,” Polin tweeted, though he did not mention Netanyahu by name.
Netanyahu has pushed back against calls for a state-led commission to investigate the failures leading up to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre and has continued to push for legislation that would formally exempt ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students from military service.
“Enough with the division, stop blaming, stop dividing, stop ignoring the will of the people, enough with the paranoid TikTok videos,” Polin said in his post.
In recent days, Netanyahu has released a series of social media videos targeting what he calls the “deep state” and denying allegations against his staff in the ongoing Qatargate scandal, which centers around suspected links between Hamas’s Qatari backers and members of the prime minister’s inner circle.
“Why vacation during war? We Israelis deserve better,” Polin added, criticizing Netanyahu’s decision to extend his visit to Budapest for a weekend stay in Hungary with his wife.

{Matzav.com Israel}