Hamas: Number of Israelis taken prisoner many times 'more than dozens'
Palestinian Hamas resistance movement says the number of Israelis taken captive in the ongoing operation against the regime is far more than "dozens" that was claimed by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Abu Ubaida, the spokesman for the Gaza Strip-based movement's military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, provided the information in a recorded message aired shortly after midnight on Sunday.
"Today, you talked about dozens of prisoners and we reassure you, Netanyahu, that your prisoners are many times more than this number, and you must keep track of your soldiers well," he said.
"These prisoners are present in all areas [of Gaza], and everything that happens to our people in the Gaza Strip is happening to them," the spokesman added.
The movement's fighters have captured a great number of Israeli forces and settlers since early Saturday, when they launched Operation al-Aqsa Storm, the biggest to be carried out by Palestinian resistance groups against the occupying regime in years.
It has featured heavy rocket barrages and surprise attacks by resistance fighters against Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied territories. So far, around 300 Israelis have died as a result of the operation and thousands of others have been injured, hundreds of them critically.
Resistance leaders have described the operation as a decisive answer to the Israeli regime's unabated campaign of bloodshed and destruction against Palestinians.
'Threatening Gaza, a losing game'
Elsewhere in his remarks, Abu Ubaida also reacted to remarks by Netanyahu in which he alleged that Israel "is about to use all its force" to destroy military capabilities of both Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements.
Emphasizing that Netanyahu's speech indicated a deep crisis for the Israeli entity, the spokesman said, "Threatening Gaza is a losing game."
Addressing Netanyahu, he added, "You threaten us with any army, Netanyahu, with your soldiers who fled like locusts in front of the Qassam fighters in their hundreds, leaving everything behind."
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