skip to contentAdvertisementHamas warns Netanyahu’s Gaza offensive has sealed the fate of Israeli hostages. Bombardments force mass displacement.By: Express Web Desk New Delhi,September 19, 2025 06:57 AM IST First published on: Sep 19, 2025 at 06:56 AM IST ShareWhatsapptwitterFacebookHamas Warns Netanyahu as Hostage Families Demand Answers (Photo: AP)Hamas issued its strongest warning yet over the fate of Israeli hostages in Gaza, declaring Thursday night that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to launch a ground offensive into Gaza City has ended any chance of their return, dead or alive, CNN reported.In a statement written in Hebrew and directed at Israel’s military and leadership, Hamas’ armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said Netanyahu had effectively signed a death warrant for the hostages.“Your prisoners are distributed within the neighbourhoods of Gaza City, and we will not be concerned for their lives as long as Netanyahu has decided to kill them. The commencement of this criminal operation and its expansion means that you will not receive any prisoner, neither alive nor dead, and their fate will be the same as that of (Ron Arad),” it said, according to CNN.Arad, an Israeli Air Force officer, went missing in 1986 in Lebanon. He is believed to have been captured by the Amal militia and later handed over to Hezbollah. In another statement, Hamas said, “Gaza will be a graveyard for your soldiers.”Rising anger inside IsraelThe warning comes as public fury toward Netanyahu intensifies at home. Weekly protests in Tel Aviv, led in part by hostage families, have grown more heated as demands for a ceasefire mount.At a press briefing on Thursday, Israel Defence Forces spokesperson Effie Defrin tried to reassure hostage families. “The hostages are always in our thoughts,” he said. “We will do everything to avoid harming them.”But many families say the Gaza offensive is tantamount to a death sentence. Of the 48 hostages believed to remain in Gaza, only 20 are thought to be alive.In a video circulated by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum this week, Einav Zangauker, the mother of captive Matan Zangauker, stood outside Netanyahu’s residence, shouting in tears: “Come out and tell me how you lied to my face and told me that you were going to bring an agreement and bring everyone back. Come out and tell me how you lied to me.”Beyond Israel, international pressure is also building. The European Union, Israel’s largest trading partner, has proposed sanctions. A UN commission has accused Israel of committing genocide, an allegation the Israeli government has firmly denied.Gaza under siegeMeanwhile, the Israeli military has intensified its strikes ahead of the long-anticipated incursion. Heavy bombardments across Gaza City have forced civilians to flee south.Nearly one million people live in and around Gaza City. The IDF says about 450,000 remain, though CNN cannot independently verify the figure. Families are fleeing on foot, by car, even by fishing boats, carrying whatever they can to an increasingly overcrowded south.The humanitarian crisis has already reached catastrophic levels. The UN has declared parts of Gaza in famine. The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported Thursday that four more people, including a child, died of malnutrition in the past 24 hours. The total number of famine-related deaths has crossed the 435 mark since the war began. Since October 7, 2023, more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed.(With inputs from CNN)AdvertisementAdvertisementLoading Taboola...