Palestinian outlet publishes handwritten docs attributed to Sinwar with instructions for guarding hostages

The Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds publishes three documents allegedly handwritten by slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, in which he lays out instructions for the captors of hostages.

The first document stresses the obligation to “take care of the lives of the enemy’s prisoners and keep them safe, since they are an important bargaining chip in our hands” to free Palestinian prisoners, and includes Quranic verses on that matter.

The second document includes data on 112 unnamed hostages held in three areas: Gaza City (14), the center of the Strip (25), and Rafah (51). A fourth group of 22 hostages is listed without a location.

Hostages in each location are broken down into different categories, according to their age (above or below 60, or young), gender, and whether they were civilians or soldiers.

It also notes that one Bedouin hostage was held in Gaza City, and four in Rafah, among them a 55-year-old man (presumably Youssef Ziyadne with his three children, two of whom were released in a November ceasefire).

The third document includes a list of eleven female hostages who were released early on in the war, most of them during the week-long November truce. The eleven hostages are listed with their name, age and whether they held foreign citizenship.

It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Hamas released 105 civilians during the truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.

Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.

♦️ سري للغاية وخاص بـ #القدس #القدس تنشر وصايا الشهيد #يحيى_السنوار للمقاتلين وتفاصيل بخط يده حول المحتجزين:

• «فإما مَنّاً بعدُ وإما فداءً» الآية رقم ٤ من «سورة محمد»
• «وعودوا المريض وأطعموا الجائع وفكّوا العاني» حديث شريف.
• «ما لا يتم الواجب إلا به فهو واجب» قاعدة… pic.twitter.com/5GAl3h74q6

— جريدة القدس (@alqudsnewspaper) October 24, 2024