Hamas Issues ‘Farewell Photo’ of Hostages, Threatens ‘Ron Arad Fate’ as Israeli Operation on Gaza City Rages

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The armed wing of Hamas on Saturday released a chilling “farewell photo” of 46 Israeli hostages, both living and dead, explicitly linking their fate to the Israeli military’s escalating ground assault on Gaza City and threatening that they would meet the same unresolved end as missing Israeli airman Ron Arad. The provocative publication, which deliberately refers to the captives as “prisoners,” came as Israeli strikes pounded the besieged city, killing at least 14 people overnight and deepening a catastrophic humanitarian crisis that has left the remaining residents traumatized and scrambling for survival.

The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, published the collection of photos on its Telegram channel, framing the Israeli hostages within a direct and ominous message. 

According to the pro-Hezbollah Al Mayadeen network, the images were accompanied by the text: "Because of Netanyahu's intransigence and Eyal Zamir's submission; a farewell photo at the onset of the operation in Gaza." The reference to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir places the responsibility for the hostages' lives squarely on Israel's leadership.

In an act of psychological warfare, the group placed an image of Ron Arad, an Israeli Air Force navigator missing since his plane was shot down over Lebanon in 1986, at the top of the publication. His name was then written beneath the photo of each of the 46 Israeli captives, a clear and menacing allusion that their fates would mirror his—disappearing without a trace.

The Al-Qassam Brigades had warned just two days prior that the start of the Israeli operation in Gaza City "means that no prisoner will be returned, neither alive nor dead, and the fate of all of them will be the same as that of Ron Arad." The broader Hamas movement separately issued a statement holding the "war criminal" Netanyahu fully responsible for the lives of "his prisoners" in the Gaza Strip.

This threat was issued as the Israeli military intensified its offensive to capture what it describes as one of Hamas’s last remaining strongholds.

The assault has turned the territory’s largest urban center into a landscape of devastation and loss. Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported harrowing scenes from Al Shifa hospital, the territory's main medical facility, where the brutal reality of the bombardment was made intensely personal for its director, Mohammed Abu Salmiya. While on duty Saturday organizing the hospital’s response, two victims killed in a strike were brought to the ward: his own brother and sister-in-law.

"I was shocked and devastated to see the bodies of my brother and his wife," Salmiya told AFP. "Anything is possible now, as you receive your dearest ones as martyrs or wounded. The occupation's crimes continue, and the number of martyrs keeps rising."

An AFP journalist witnessed a constant stream of ambulances arriving at the hospital compound, unloading bodies wrapped in white shrouds as well as the injured, including a young boy.

The Associated Press reported that the latest Israeli strikes killed at least 14 people overnight, with health officials confirming that six members of the same family—relatives of the Al Shifa hospital director—were among the dead after their home was hit. The Palestinian Red Crescent stated that another five people were killed in a separate strike near Shawa Square.

The Israeli military has urged the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians still sheltering in Gaza City to evacuate south to what it has designated a "humanitarian area" in Al-Mawasi. However, for many, this is an impossible demand. The city, which the United Nations recently declared is experiencing famine, is filled with residents who are too impoverished, exhausted, or weak to leave.

"Death is more merciful," Mohammed Nassar, a 38-year-old resident of the Tal al-Hawa area, told AFP as he watched his neighbors flee. Caring for his three daughters, Nassar said he lacked both the money and the strength to evacuate.

"As for me, my wife and my three daughters, we will wait until the last moment," he said. The cost of evacuation has reportedly soared, with truck owners charging between $1,500 and $2,000 for the roughly 30-kilometer journey south.

Raeda al-Amareen, another resident, told AFP she was awakened by explosions before dawn. "We want to evacuate but we have no money," she said. "We don't even have 10 shekels to buy bread. What are we supposed to do? We'll stay -- either we die or someone finds a solution for us."

The territory's civil defense agency, which operates under Hamas authority, reported that at least 20 people had been killed in strikes on Gaza City on Saturday alone.

The Israeli offensive and the deepening humanitarian crisis it has caused are also creating significant international diplomatic pressure.

The Associated Press reported that Western countries are growing increasingly fed up with the intensifying war, with several expected to formally recognize Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly next week.

Portugal’s Foreign Affairs Ministry announced it will recognize a Palestinian state on Sunday, joining other nations like the U.K., Canada, Australia, Malta, Belgium, and Luxembourg that are expected to take similar steps.

The war, triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, has now raged for nearly two years. That initial assault killed approximately 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and resulted in the abduction of 251 others.

According to the Associated Press, 48 hostages remain in Gaza, with fewer than half believed to be alive. The Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip since then has killed more than 65,100 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and displaced around 90% of the population.

The dire situation is further compounded by a breakdown in aid delivery. On Friday, UNICEF reported that armed individuals had held drivers at gunpoint and stolen lifesaving therapeutic food meant for thousands of malnourished children from four of its trucks in Gaza City.

"It was a life-saving shipment amid the severe restrictions on aid delivery to Gaza City," said UNICEF spokesperson Ammar Ammar. The Israeli military blamed Hamas for the theft, an accusation the group denies.

As the Israeli military presses its assault deeper into Gaza City, Hamas's decision to publicly display images of the hostages and issue explicit threats against their lives places the captives directly in the crossfire.

By showcasing them amidst the urban warfare and civilian suffering, Hamas is leveraging their plight in response to military pressure, leaving the fate of the 48 remaining hostages, and the hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped alongside them, hanging precariously in the balance.