JIP: Stop IDF strikes, otherwise Israeli hostages could be harmed – Israel News

Abu Hamza, spokesperson for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, called on the Israeli public to urge the Israeli army to stop its strikes on the Gaza Strip before the cessation -fire comes into effect, otherwise they could harm or kill Israeli hostages before their release, in a statement on Telegram on Saturday.

“The people of enemy prisoners must demand that the Zionist army stop the bombings of the last hours, which are the cause of the murder of your children, while the resistance makes the final arrangements on the ground for their release,” begins the press release.

“The intensity of the Zionist bombings leads us towards two paths, the first being that the families of Zionist prisoners receive their children in coffins or (safely) in their homes, and that the choice of the last hours be in the hands of the the Zionist army alone,” the warning concludes.

The strikes in question refer to earlier reports from the Gaza-based Palestinian News Agency (Safa), affiliated with Hamas, which claimed that Israel was carrying out new strikes in the Jabalya region of northern Gaza.

A correspondent for the Hamas-affiliated agency said Israeli drones were dropping bombs in the area. Safa also claimed that Dr Saeed Nabhan, a surgeon at Al-Shifa Hospital, was killed along with his father in a strike in northern Gaza overnight.

The Israeli military has not yet commented on the warning or the alleged strikes.

Tensions before the hostage taking

Palestinian terror group Hamas said on Sunday that the mechanism for releasing Israeli hostages it is holding in Gaza would depend on the number of Palestinian prisoners Israel releases.

In a statement, Hamas said the list of Palestinian prisoners to be released would be published a day before the exchange, in accordance with the terms of Wednesday’s ceasefire agreement with Israel.

The ceasefire is expected to come into effect at 8:30 a.m. local time, the Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

REUTERS contributed to this report.