Number of Israelis captured in Gaza believed to be over 130
The Palestinian terror groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) claim to have over 130 Israeli captives in Gaza, including military officers.
PIJ leader Ziyad Nakhaleh released a statement Sunday evening claiming that his organization is holding more than 30 Israeli hostages in Gaza.
“The soldiers and settlers we are holding as prisoners of war in Gaza are in the dozens and more. In fact, I can say that they far exceed this number. Islamic Jihad has more than 30 enemy prisoners so far,” he said.
Hamas claims to have more than 100 captives in Gaza. Initially, the terror group claimed to have captured more than 160 people. Yesterday evening, the terror group revised the number to more than 130 captives.
The Israeli government has not released an official statement declaring the number of captives in Gaza as it is still working to identify the number and identities of those killed in the initial invasion.
Further complicating an official count is the presence of foreign visitors to Israel who were captured by terrorists.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
