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Today's Paper | March 17, 2026

Published 20 Sep, 2025 07:59pm

Hamas warns hostages face fate of missing pilot if Israel assault continues

Hamas’ armed wing has published “farewell” photographs of most of the remaining hostages in Gaza, warning that Israel’s assault on Gaza City could endanger them, AFP reports.

With the images, it evoked the case of an Israeli pilot missing since 1986 after being shot down over Lebanon.

Of the 251 people seized, 47 remain in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.

“Due to [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s obstinacy and [military chief Eyal] Zamir’s submission … a farewell photograph taken at the start of the operation in Gaza” City, the Brigades wrote alongside the photos.

The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades released 46 photographs of hostages on its Telegram channel, each one labelled with the name of Ron Arad, an Israeli air force navigator whose plane went down over southern Lebanon in 1986 during the Lebanese civil war.

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