The Palestinian Hamas movement has threatened that the Israeli hostages it is holding could repeat the fate of pilot Ron Arad, who disappeared 36 years ago.
Oku.Az reports that a corresponding statement was published on Hamas’s official Telegram channel.
“(Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is encouraging the emergence of dozens of new Ron Arads,” the statement said.
It should be noted that in 1986, the plane of Israeli pilot Ron Arad crashed while performing a combat mission near the city of Saida and he was captured by supporters of the Lebanese movement “Amal”. After that, Israel immediately began negotiations for the release of the pilot, but two years later the negotiations were suspended. In 1988, the hostage was declared missing, his whereabouts and fate are still unknown.
It should be recalled that a day ago the Israeli army discovered the bodies of six dead hostages in one of the underground tunnels in the Rafah region. The militants claim that the hostages were killed by Israeli shelling, but the Israeli Ministry of Health examined the bodies and concluded that Hamas supporters shot the dead hostages at point-blank range.
According to Netanyahu’s office, Hamas is currently holding 101 hostages. Of these, 39 are no longer alive, with the militants keeping their bodies in the Palestinian enclave.
