A senior Hamas official has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of attempting to kill Israeli hostages in Gaza by starving them after failing to locate and kill them in air strikes.
In a statement on Sunday, Hamas Political Bureau member Izzat al-Rishq said the starvation and thirst policy Netanyahu and the "Nazi government" imposed on Gaza's population is now affecting Israeli captives as well. He placed full responsibility for their condition on the Israeli government.
Al-Rishq said Palestinian resistance forces treat Israeli captives in line with religious and humanitarian principles, sharing their own food and water with them as they do with the wider Palestinian population.
He recalled that in previous prisoner exchanges, Israeli captives were released in good physical and mental health, but claimed they now suffer from hunger, weakness and weight loss — mirroring the plight of besieged Gaza residents.
Netanyahu's oppression of Gaza's people has also surrounded the captives, and he is trying to discipline them through cruel hunger, he said.
Al-Rishq alleged that the hunger policy in Gaza is part of Netanyahu's strategy to resolve the hostage issue.
"When Netanyahu could not find the hostages and kill them through air strikes, he is now trying to end the matter by starving them," he said.
Tel Aviv estimates that 50 Israelis remain captive in Gaza, including 20 believed to be alive. Meanwhile, Israel is holding more than 10,800 Palestinian detainees, many of whom face torture, starvation and medical neglect, according to Palestinian and Israeli rights groups.
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Starvation and genocide
Earlier in the day, the Palestinian Health Ministry said six more Palestinians starved to death in the blockaded enclave, taking the toll since October 2023 to 175, including 93 children.
Israel has killed nearly 61,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in its carnage in the blockaded enclave.
Some 11,000 Palestinians are feared buried under rubble of annihilated homes, according to Palestine's official WAFA news agency.
Experts, however, contend that the actual death toll significantly exceeds what the Gaza authorities have reported, estimating it could be around 200,000.
Over the course of the genocide, Israel has reduced most of the blockaded enclave to ruins, and practically displaced all of its population.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
