PARIS: An adviser to Al-Qaeda’s likely current leader is calling for Hamas to release its Israeli hostages held in Gaza, according to an American militant monitoring organization, SITE.
The online declaration was made Friday by Mustafa Hamid, also known as Abu Walid Al-Masri, who is father-in-law to Saif Al-Adel, the man widely believed to now head Al-Qaeda, according to SITE.
In it, Hamid claimed the attention given to recovering the Israeli hostages, both dead and alive, was overshadowing the fate of Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel.
He also hailed Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader whom Israel announced a day earlier it had killed. Sinwar was the mastermind of the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.
Hamas must now “immediately” return the hostages and their bodies, and “this file must be closed and not opened again, as we know its consequences,” according to the statement.
“No one cares about the Palestinian prisoners, neither in the media, in negotiations, nor in demonstrations,” it said.
Hamas grabbed a total 251 hostages in its October 7, 2023 attacks. Since then, several have been found dead, and some were released in a short-lived December ceasefire, leaving 97 still in the hands of the Islamist Palestinian group.
Al-Qaeda, held responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, was the target of the American-led invasion of Afghanistan, where it was traditionally based.
Its then-leader Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces in neighboring Pakistan in 2011. Bin Laden’s successor, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, was killed by a US drone strike in July 2022.
The core Al-Qaeda organization survives, and its de facto leader is believed to be Saif Al-Adel, a former Egyptian special forces lieutenant-colonel whose presence has been reported in Iran.
Several experts consulted by AFP say Hamid is close to higher-ups in the core Al-Qaeda organization.
The group, which has spawned regional affiliates in Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Mali, has little leverage over Hamas, which is backed by Iran.
Hamas on Friday vowed not to release any hostages under the Gaza war ends.
Analysts said that, with no successor to Sinwar named and a vacuum in Hamas’s leadership, it will be difficult to find someone negotiate their release.
Al-Qaeda adviser urges release of Israeli hostages in Gaza
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Al-Qaeda adviser urges release of Israeli hostages in Gaza
- Hamas must now “immediately” return the hostages and their bodies, and “this file must be closed and not opened again, as we know its consequences,” according to the statement
- “No one cares about the Palestinian prisoners, neither in the media, in negotiations, nor in demonstrations,” it said
Israeli FM urges Jews to move to Israel a week after Sydney attack
- “Today I call on Jews in England, Jews in France, Jews in Australia, Jews in Canada, Jews in Belgium: come to the Land of Israel! Come home!” Saar said
JERUSALEM: Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called on Sunday for Jews in Western countries to move to Israel to escape rising antisemitism, one week after 15 were shot dead at a Jewish event in Sydney.
“Jews have the right to live in safety everywhere. But we see and fully understand what is happening, and we have a certain historical experience. Today, Jews are being hunted across the world,” Saar said at a public candle lighting marking the last day of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
“Today I call on Jews in England, Jews in France, Jews in Australia, Jews in Canada, Jews in Belgium: come to the Land of Israel! Come home!” Saar said at the ceremony, held with leaders of Jewish communities and organizations worldwide.
Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Israeli leaders have repeatedly denounced a surge in antisemitism in Western countries and accused their governments of failing to curb it.
Australian authorities have said the December 14 attack on a Hanukkah event on Sydney’s Bondi Beach was inspired by the ideology of the Islamic State jihadist group.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Western governments to better protect their Jewish citizens.
“I demand that Western governments do what is necessary to fight antisemitism and provide the required safety and security for Jewish communities worldwide,” Netanyahu said in a video address.
In October, Saar accused British authorities of failing to take action to curb a “toxic wave of antisemitism” following an attack outside a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, in which two people were killed and four wounded.
According to Israel’s 1950 “Law of Return,” any Jewish person in the world is entitled to settle in Israel (a process known in Hebrew as aliyah, or “ascent“) and acquire Israeli citizenship. The law also applies to individuals who have at least one Jewish grandparent.zz
