Hamas on Wednesday marked the 35th anniversary of its establishment in a major rally in which one of its operatives brandished an assault rifle supposedly belonging to IDF soldier Hadar Goldin who was killed in the 2014 Gaza war and whose body is still held by the terrorist group.
Speaking at the rally, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar said that the organization is giving Israel a limited time to complete a prisoner deal - and threatened that if one is not signed, "the case of the four soldiers will be closed - and another way will be found to release our prisoners."
3 View gallery
Masked Hamas operative brandishes gun supposedly belonging to Israeli KIA Hadar Goldin
(Photo: AFP)
Hamas is holding the bodies of Goldin and Oron Shaul who was also killed in combat in the 2014 conflict, as well as Israeli nationals Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed who were not active servicemembers at the time of their capture and are believed to be held alive.
Officials in Jerusalem estimate that the presentation of Goldin's supposed weapon and the talk of a prisoner exchange deal is part of psychological warfare meant to pressure Israel’s incoming government. Prisoner exchange talks have hit a dead end as Israel refuses to release Palestinian prisoners that have killed Israelis.
Goldin’s supposed weapon was brandished by a masked Hamas operative of its so-called Shadow Unit which is responsible for guarding the captives and the bodies of the KIAs.
With Sinwar standing by his side, the operative said that the weapon with the number 42852351 inscribed on it belonged to Goldin, and was seized on August 1, 2014, the date of the Givati Brigade officer's kidnapping.
Later, Hamas published close-up photos of the weapon, which has a MARS scope attached and an inscription in Hebrew.
The organization also played an audio recording of Mohammad Deif, the shadowy supreme military commander of Hamas’s military wing Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, in which he called to continue the struggle against Israel.
“We pledge to march down the path of the martyrs until we meet God, we will not turn back,” he is heard saying as he turns to the Israeli leadership
"O foreigners in our land. Your founding fathers at the height of their tyranny and affiliation with the malicious idea of Zionism did not succeed in exterminating our people or erasing our identity from our land.
3 View gallery
From top left clockwise: Hadar Goldin, Oron Shaul, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed
All the fronts will unite, and all the arenas will be opened for one goal and for a great, noble and holy goal, which is the liberation of Palestine."
The last time Hamas divulged information about one of the captives and the KIAs it released a video of a bed-ridden Hisham al-Sayed connected to an oxygen tank.
It was the first footage ever released by Hamas since al-Sayed, a Bedouin resident of southern Israel, was captured by the terrorist organization when he crossed the border into Gaza in 2015. The release of the footage was preceded by a statement from Hamas stating that there had been a "deterioration" in the condition of one of the captives it is holding.