New Delhi: The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have asked residents of the Gaza Strip to provide information about the hostages taken away by Hamas gunmen during their 7 October rampage through southern Israel regions that killed 1,400 people.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari posted on X Tuesday afternoon: “In recent hours, the IDF has turned to the residents of the Gaza Strip with a variety of tools in order for them to reveal based and useful information about the abductees, thus gaining security and compensation.”
He said the message being delivered was “If you want a better future for you and your child, take action and give us as soon as possible solid and useful information regarding the abductees in your area. The Israeli army assures you that it will put forth maximum effort to provide you with security and your home, as well as a monetary reward. We guarantee you complete confidentiality.”
These lines were printed on leaflets that the Israeli military dropped in Gaza Tuesday. Thev leaflets also listed phone numbers to call with the information.
The message to Gaza comes as thousands of Israeli soldiers and reservists stand assembled at the border, ready for a ground incursion that the IDF says will “fully dismantle” Hamas.
בשעות האחרונות צה״ל פנה במגוון כלים לתושבי רצועת עזה על מנת שיחשפו מידע מבוסס ומועיל אודות החטופים, ובכך יזכו בבטחון ותגמול >> pic.twitter.com/grgfGamDbU
— דובר צה״ל דניאל הגרי – Daniel Hagari (@IDFSpokesperson) October 24, 2023
Israel said Monday that the Hamas – which controls the Gaza enclave – was holding 222 hostages, mostly civilians and among whom were elderly and infants.
Late on Monday, Hamas freed two Israeli women on “humanitarian and poor health grounds”, Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, said on Telegram.
The Israeli prime minister’s office confirmed that the women – Nurit Cooper, 79, and Yocheved Lifshitz, 85 – were handed over to the Israeli military. The two were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, near the Gaza border, along with their husbands, who were still held by Hamas. Hamas freed them after releasing an American woman and her daughter on Friday.
Meanwhile, Israel said Tuesday it had killed dozens of Hamas fighters overnight in air strikes on Gaza and that its war to destroy them would take time.
The United Nations has urged Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, which has seen a ferocious retaliation by Israel after the 7 October attack. The UN said the aid sent so far, around 54 trucks, met only a tiny fraction of the needs of food and fuel, which are still blocked by Israel.
The death toll in Gaza continues to mount. The Gaza health ministry said more than 5,000 people have been killed in Gaza in the two weeks of air strikes that Israel unleashed to avenge the devastating Hamas attack on southern Israel on 7 October.