{"id":202710,"date":"2025-09-05T16:05:22","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T16:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/202710\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T16:05:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T16:05:22","slug":"israel-fears-hamas-could-hide-hostages-among-civilians-during-gaza-city-evacuation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/202710\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel fears Hamas could hide hostages among civilians during Gaza City evacuation"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Israel prepares for a new ground maneuver in Gaza City, military officials say they fear Hamas could use the chaos of mass civilian evacuations to secretly move hostages held in the territory.<\/p>\n

In recent days, the army informed families of hostages that it intends to ensure captives are not harmed in the operation, part of a broader campaign dubbed Operation Gideon\u2019s Chariots II. Officials believe hostages are being held in Gaza City but say they lack precise intelligence on their whereabouts, a factor that heightens the risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s clear the operation puts them at risk,\u201d a military official told Ynet and its sister publication Yedioth Ahronoth. \u201cIt\u2019s difficult to predict how Hamas will act \u2014 whether they will guard the hostages, use them as shields or, God forbid, kill some to manipulate events.\u201d<\/p>\n

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has ordered forces to act with caution, anticipating that Hamas could move hostages south under the cover of tens of thousands of Palestinians fleeing Gaza City. The army has established designated humanitarian corridors for civilians and pledged not to fire in those areas.<\/p>\n

Israeli officials say Hamas has used this tactic before, disguising hostages as fighters or concealing their identities as they were transferred on foot. Such moves have complicated Israeli strikes, as in Rafah in August of last year, when forces maneuvered knowing captives were nearby. At the end of that month, Hamas executed six hostages held in a tunnel<\/a> in Rafah\u2019s Tel al-Sultan neighborhood.<\/p>\n

A newly released photograph underscores the military\u2019s concern. Taken by a Yedioth Ahronoth and Ynet team on Gaza City\u2019s Sheikh Ajlin beach in November 2023, the image shows Israeli soldiers posting a Hebrew sign instructing hostages to \u201ccollapse\u201d so troops could identify them in the crowd. Officials feared even then that Hamas would smuggle captives among civilians moving south.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05e9\u05dc\u05d8<\/a>\"\u05e9\u05dc\u05d8<\/p>\n

A sign posted by Israeli soldiers on the beach in Gaza City\u2019s Sheikh Ajlin neighborhood in November 2023 reads in Hebrew, ‘If you are a hostage, collapse so we can identify you’ <\/p>\n

(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)<\/p>\n

The army says it intends to avoid striking areas where hostages are suspected, even at the cost of not decisively defeating Hamas forces there. Officials have also told the government that a partial hostage deal \u2014 releasing about half of the captives still alive \u2014 could enable greater freedom of action in Gaza City.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, army spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Israeli troops now control 40% of Gaza City<\/a> and will deepen operations soon. His comments came on the eve of the 700th day of the war, with 48 hostages still in Hamas captivity.Defrin also addressed tensions between military leaders and the government over postwar plans. He said Zamir supports the overall operational plan but presents the army\u2019s professional stance in the relevant forums. On the possibility of military rule in Gaza<\/a>, Defrin said: \u201cThe chief of staff never said he supports it. He said if there is no other solution, a military administration will be necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Israel prepares for a new ground maneuver in Gaza City, military officials say they fear Hamas could…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":202711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[99,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-202710","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-israel","9":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115152546908714868","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}