File: ‘Hamas Waging Psychological Warfare’
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JERUSALEM/BERLIN (Worthy News) – Uncertainty remained Saturday over the future of ceasefire talks after a previously unseen Hamas document quoted by a major German newspaper revealed the “psychological warfare” carried out by its fighters since they kidnapped 251 hostages during their October 7 attack in southern Israel.
The document shared by the Bild (”Picture”) tabloid showed that Hamas is abusing hostages held in Gaza and psychologically torturing their families to improve its position in hostage-ceasefire talks with Israel.
Hamas also seeks to ultimately recover military capabilities destroyed during the ongoing war, according to sources familiar with the document.
The Hamas document, reportedly written earlier this year, was said to have been approved by Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, which has been designated as an Islamic terrorist organization by Israel and most of its allies.
It was found on Sinwar’s computer and shed light on the organization’s negotiation strategy, said Bild, adding that two independent sources verified the file.
“Continue to exert psychological pressure on the families of the prisoners, both now and during the first phase (of the ceasefire), so that public pressure on the enemy government increases,” the Hamas document reportedly said.
“During the negotiations for the second phase, Hamas will allow the Red Cross to visit some of the prisoners as a gesture of goodwill and to convey messages to their relatives,” the document was quoted as saying.
VIDEOS PUBLISHED
Since October 7, Hamas regularly published videos of the hostages criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and begging for him to secure their release.
Many have since died. Israeli sources said earlier this week that Eden Yerushalmi, whose body was recovered from Gaza last weekend along with five others after they were murdered, appeared “to have been starved and had lost 10 kilos in captivity, weighing only 36 kilos (79 lbs) when she was recovered.”
Yet despite the suffering, the Bild report said Hamas is not seeking a fast end to the war in Gaza. The Hamas document suggested that it purposely draws out hostage-ceasefire negotiations to increase pressure on the government and “exhaust” the military.
However, Hamas has listed significant demands for Israel, including the release of 100 prisoners and terrorists serving life sentences in Israeli prisons.
The group’s document also mentioned a “political maneuver,” suggesting that Hamas negotiators should propose that “Arab forces be stationed along the eastern and northern borders” with Israel.
That would create “a buffer to prevent the enemy from entering Gaza after the war ends until they [Hamas] have reorganized their ranks and military capabilities,” added the report.
The Bild noted that the document does not mention the so-called Philadelphi Corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt, which is understood to be one of the current sticking points in ongoing indirect negotiations.
BLAMING ISRAEL
Hamas is reportedly insistent that Israel should be blamed for the failed negotiations.
The document stated that if Israel rejects a deal proposed by the U.S., “the media must be made aware that Hamas agreed, but that the deal failed due to ‘Israel’s stubbornness.’”
Hamas should not be “held responsible for the failure of an agreement,” the report quotes the document as saying.
Israel maintains that Hamas can’t be trusted and says it must be destroyed to prevent another October 7 attack.
The violence was described as the worst atrocity against Jews since the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah.
Besides those kidnapped, some 1,200 people, including raped women and babies, were massacred by Hamas.
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