Following the death of their leader, Yahya Sinwar, Hamas is facing renewed calls to release Israeli citizens they took hostage following the Oct. 7 attacks, including from an advisor to the purported leader of Al-Qaeda.
Mustafa Hamid, father-in-law to alleged Al-Qaeda leader Saif al-Adel, called on Hamas to "immediately" return the hostages, including the bodies of the hostages that died in captivity, as reported by Barron's.
"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," Hamid said in a statement obtained by American consultancy group SITE, which specializes in tracking jihadist and white supremacist organizations.
Hamid stated that Hamas' decision to continue holding Israeli people as hostages was overshadowing the fact that Palestinian prisoners are also being held by Israel.
"No one cares about the Palestinian prisoners, neither in the media, in negotiations, nor in demonstrations," Hamid continued in the statement.
Hamid also paid his respects to the late Hamas leader.
In the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, Palestinian militant group Hamas took 251 people hostage, with many of them having died since. While some were also released in December during a brief ceasefire, 97 of the hostages are estimated to still be alive and actively held by Hamas.
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