The Israeli military command has finally admitted that three Israeli captives, whose bodies were recovered from the Gaza Strip, were killed as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the besieged territory. 

Nine months after the bodies of two soldiers and a settler were retrieved, the Israeli military command said that the captives were killed as a result of a “byproduct” of the airstrike its aircraft launched on the town of Jabalia, to the north of Gaza City, on November 10, 2023.

Their bodies were recovered from a tunnel on December 12, 2023, by occupation forces. 

From November 2, 2023, to December 12, 2023, Israeli aircraft committed at least two horrific massacres in the town of Jabalia. In these attacks, which occurred on November 2 and November 22. multiple US-supplied bunker-buster bombs were launched on residential areas in the town, completely obliterating residential blocs and killing hundreds of Palestinians. 

In detail, around 10,000 Palestinians were killed by Israeli occupation forces by November 10, 2023, highlighting the scope of the unprecedented Israeli war of genocide.

Al-Qassam Brigades published a video of the 6 Israeli captives whose bodies were found by the Israeli forces in #Gaza.

The video said that Netanyahu was responsible for the death of the captives, adding that he was creating tens of Ron Arads.

So who is Aron Arad that the… pic.twitter.com/hKuswHCbPD

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) September 3, 2024

Dozens of other airstrikes, as well as artillery shelling, targeted the area during that period, with no care for the lives of civilians or the lives of Israeli captives, dozens of which have been killed as a result of what the Israeli command describes as "military pressure".

Captives abandoned to die in tunnels

Yesterday, during protests attended by tens of thousands of Israeli settlers, the families of Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip decried the performance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli occupation forces.

Einav Zanguaker, the mother of a captive held in the Gaza Strip, said that Netanyahu shifted the focus of the war from the Gaza Strip to the north and abandoned captives. 

She said that Netanyahu decided to "abandon the captives to die in the tunnels."

Currently, Israeli authorities estimate that 101 Israeli captives, including four imprisoned on events unrelated to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, are being held by the Palestinian Resistance in the Gaza Strip. 

Zanguaker said that Netanyahu is giving Israelis "101 Ron Arad," referring to an Israeli military pilot who was captured in 1986 by Lebanese Resistance fighters and has since then disappeared. 

She also criticized the Israeli military pressure for "killing the captives," emphasizing that there is a "deal on the table that is ready to be signed now."

Not sure there will be anyone to bring home

Yet, the Israeli political command continues to drive talks that would ensure the release of captives into dead ends. 

Just before the protests on Saturday, Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi told the families of captive soldiers, both living and dead, during a tense meeting that the effort to secure the release of Israeli captives is growing progressively more challenging and complicated as time goes on.

Halevi stressed that the Israeli military is encountering substantial challenges in collecting intelligence on Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip.

He added that he was "not sure there will be anyone to bring home" if a deal is not reached soon.

Read more: 'The Bloody Document': How Netanyahu's tactics killed Israeli captives