The Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s al-Quds Brigades on Tuesday issued a similar warning like the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas and said if Israel must stop targeting safe houses and killing civilians in Gaza if they are concerned about the safety of the hostages.
“If the Zionist enemy is concerned about the lives of its soldiers, settlers, and captives in our custody, then it must immediately stop targeting safe houses and killing civilians. Otherwise, the fate of your soldiers and captives will be unknown, just like the fate of Ron Arad over forty years ago,” Abu Hamza of the Islamic Jihad said in a statement on the al-Quds Brigades Telegram channel on Monday, the CNN reported.
The terrorist group claims to be holding at least 30 hostages in Gaza.
Ron Arad, the person the terrorist group referred to, was an Israeli Air Force Navigator. He crashed his fighter plane in Lebanon in 1986 and was captured by the local Shiite Amal terrorist group and handed over to Hezbollah.
Arad was announced dead in June 2008 by the Iran-backed terrorist group, 22 years after his disappearance.
Hamas on Monday evening issued a similar warning and said civilian hostages would be executed without warning and the killings broadcast if Israel attacks people living in Gaza Strip.
Hamas allegedly is holding more than 100 hostages which also include Israeli army officers.
The Hamas-Israel conflict which began with a surprise attack on southern Israeli cities on Saturday morning has so far led to deaths of over 900 people in Israel and 680 Palestinians.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday in a live television address vowed that the Israeli military would attack Hamas with a force “like never before”.
“As the Prime Minister of Israel, I tell you frankly, difficult days are still ahead of us,” he said
Soon after, his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, announced that the supply of electricity, food, water and fuel to the Palestinian coastal enclave has been stopped.
The conflict has also taken the lives of at least 11 American citizens, twelve Thai citizens, 10 Nepalis, two Ukrainians, two French nationals and one British citizen, according to reports by news agencies.