Shortly after Israeli forces freed hostages Noa Argamani, Andrey Kozlov, Shlomi Ziv, and Almog Meir on Saturday, Hamas published a statement from the terror organization’s leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in which the arch-terrorist asserted that Hamas would not surrender.
“Our people will not surrender, and the resistance will continue to defend our rights in the face of this criminal enemy,” Haniyeh reportedly said. “And if the occupation believes that it can impose its choices on us by force, it is delusional, and the movement will not agree to any agreement that does not achieve security for our people first and foremost.”
In the statement, the Hamas leader asserted that the Israeli military was engaging in massacres of the Palestinian people in Gaza.
“[Israel] continues the massacres against our people, children and women, the chapters of which are now taking place in Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah.”
Rescue operation occurred in the heart of Nuseirat
After securing the release of the hostages, the IDF reported that the rescue operation had taken place in two different locations in central Nuseirat.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, the bodies of at least 93 Palestinians who were killed during Israeli activities in Nuseirat and other areas in the central region of the Gaza Strip arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital on Saturday.
The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its reporting, and the numbers published by the ministry have come under scrutiny, particularly in recent days, for its apparent inflating of the proportion of women and children killed during the war.
Later, Hamas put out another statement saying that the Israeli rescue operation would not "not change its strategic failure in the Gaza Strip" as the terrorist organization still held the bulk of the hostages.
Hamas also claimed that it was capable of capturing more hostages.
Reuters contributed to this report.