IDF: Hamas photo of murdered hostage is of body recovered in November
Hamas: "The guard acted in a vengeful manner contrary to instructions after receiving news of the martyrdom of his two children."
A Hamas guard who allegedly killed an Israeli hostage on Monday acted 'in a vengeful manner' contrary to instructions, Abu Obeida, spokesperson for Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades, announced on his Telegram channel on Thursday.
"After investigating the killing of an enemy prisoner by his guard, it was found that the guard assigned to him acted in a vengeful manner contrary to instructions after receiving news of the martyrdom of his two children in one of the enemy's massacres," the statement read.
Abu Obeida added that the incident "does not represent our ethics [when] dealing with prisoners" and that tighter instructions would be given to guards. He said such incidents had happened twice.
However, he held Israel "fully responsible for all the suffering and dangers that its [hostages] are exposed to as a result of the barbaric genocide against [the Palestinian people]."
Later on Thursday, Al-Qassam Brigades published on its Telegram channel a photo of a bloodied, deceased man covered in a sheet. The photo pertains to a hostage who was murdered and whose body was recovered in an operation by the IDF and Shin Bet at the end of November, the IDF reported. The family has been informed by IDF representatives.
The photo was shared with a caption, in English and broken Hebrew, calling the hostage's murder an "unfortunate incident."
Hamas placed the responsibility for the death on Israel, writing as part of the caption that "your brutality is an imminent danger to your prisoners. Time is running out."
Richel Zarfati, the mother of Ofir Zarfati, who was kidnapped and killed by Hamas and had his photo published, said that "what is important is that the negotiating team do everything to succeed and return home with a deal."
Sarfati added that "there are 115 hostages who must return home - the lives for rehabilitation and the dead for a proper Jewish burial. I choose not to look at the picture that Hamas published and to remember Ofir as he was: a perfect man, handsome, smiling, happy, and not as Hamas decided to do in despicable psychological warfare today."
First reports of the incident
On Monday, Abu Obeida announced that one hostage held by Hamas in Gaza was killed by the guard assigned to him, and another two female hostages were seriously wounded.
The terrorist group formed a committee to investigate the incident. The IDF said that, at the moment, it lacks the intelligence to confirm or deny these claims.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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