{"id":56537,"date":"2026-02-07T21:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T02:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/hamas-source-claims-hostages-were-sometimes-held-meters-away-from-idf\/07\/02\/2026\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T21:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T02:30:11","slug":"hamas-source-claims-hostages-were-sometimes-held-meters-away-from-idf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/hamas-source-claims-hostages-were-sometimes-held-meters-away-from-idf\/07\/02\/2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Hamas source claims hostages were sometimes held &#8216;meters away&#8217; from IDF"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Hamas terrorists stand at a site as Hamas says it continues to search for the body of the last deceased hostage, in Gaza City December 8, 2025. (photo credit: REUTERS\/DAWOUD ABU ALKAS)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">On several occasions, IDF troops were directly above the tunnels where terrorists had hidden hostages, and had to be misled or distracted so that the terrorists could transfer the hostages elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Hostages in Gaza were sometimes kept only meters away from IDF soldiers, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/tags\/hamas\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Hamas;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Hamas<\/a> source claimed to the Saudi outlet <em>Asharq Al-Awsat <\/em>on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">On several occasions, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/articles\/idf-terrorist-killed-crossing-yellow-212822547.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:IDF;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">IDF<\/a> troops were directly above the tunnels where Hamas terrorists had hidden the hostages, and needed to be misled or distracted so that the terrorists could transfer the captives elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">According to Asharq<em>Al-Awsat, <\/em>the source claimed that Hamas had been strictly ordered to preserve the hostages, living and dead, so they could be used as a bargaining chip with Israel.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"An Israeli soldier stands inside a tunnel underneath the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, in the Gaza Strip, June 8, 2025 (credit: REUTERS\/Ronen Zvulun)\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"800\" height=\"523\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/Dw0y32EKXZw_VP4x5XUsXg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYyODtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/jerusalem_post_articles_818\/a2e8ad402ed5cb4722af6f16b8289edb\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>An Israeli soldier stands inside a tunnel underneath the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, in the Gaza Strip, June 8, 2025 (credit: REUTERS\/Ronen Zvulun)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"mb-4 text-lg font-bold\">Living hostages continuously moved to prevent discovery<\/h3>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">As the source noted, the living <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/articles\/former-hostage-nimrod-cohen-announces-091305022.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:hostages;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">hostages<\/a> were continuously shuttled between hiding places, tunnels and above-ground apartments, in order to prevent them from being found.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/articles\/final-hostage-pin-removed-national-094412988.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:bodies;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">bodies<\/a> of the deceased captives were either buried inside the tunnels, near cemeteries, or in areas managed by factions that could preserve them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/articles\/hamas-source-claims-hostages-were-014853905.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hamas terrorists stand at a site as Hamas says it continues to search for the body of the last deceased hostage, in<br \/><button class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/hamas-source-claims-hostages-were-sometimes-held-meters-away-from-idf\/07\/02\/2026\/\">Read More &rsaquo;<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/en\/jerusalem_post_articles_818\/6e79990265c668860d3f8cfd16601a65","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56537"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}