Senior Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said on Tuesday that the civilians Hamas captured on October 7 would be freed if Israel stopped attacking targets associated with the terrorist group in the Gaza Strip.
Meshaal, in an interview with Sky News, refused to refer to the civilians captured by Hamas as "hostages," and claimed that Israel had killed at least 22 of those captured in airstrikes on Gaza. Of those reportedly dead, he said that many were Israelis, but did not elaborate on which countries the rest were from. Axios reported that those numbers could not be verified.
"If Netanyahu was keen on their safety, if the Europeans and the Americans are keen on their safety, let them force Israel to stop its aggression, to stop this genocide, these brutal war crimes that are committed every day," he said. "Let them stop this aggression and you will find the mediators like Qatar and Egypt and some Arab countries and others will find a way to have them released and we'll send them to their homes."
"If Netanyahu was keen on their safety if the Europeans and the Americans are keen on their safety, let them force Israel to stop its aggression, to stop this genocide, these brutal war crimes that are committed every day."
Khaled Meshaal
The report came the same day that IDF chief of staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi said that Israeli forces are ready and prepared to invade Gaza.
However, a day before Meshaal's interview, two Israeli officials told Axios that Israel was willing to delay the invasion into Gaza to allow talks on Hamas releasing a large number of hostages. Israel told Egyptian mediators that Hamas has to release all its women and children hostages for any kind of deal, the report said. The next day, the IDF dropped leaflets in the Gaza Strip saying that Palestinian civilians who had information on any hostages would be rewarded with cash and safety from Hamas if they disclosed the details to the IDF.
The IDF urged Gazan civilians to contact them through WhatsApp, Telegram, or through a secured line, for those in fear of repercussions by Hamas.
The report that came from Sky News, however, comes over a week after an unnamed senior Hamas official, in an interview with NBC News, also said that the terrorist group would release all civilian hostages if the IDF ceased its operation in Gaza.
However, the official in the NBC interview also said that IDF soldiers would only be released if all Palestinians detained by Israel were released.
What else did Meshaal say in the interview?
Meshaal also falsely stated in the Sky News interview that civilians weren't killed by Hamas's military wing al-Qassam Brigades on October 7. He went on to say that any civilian deaths that were caused by Hamas were not intended.
He also said that the attacks a little over two weeks ago did not involve Iran in any capacity and that Hamas acted alone.
The full interview can be viewed below:
Also shortly after the interview, 10 Hamas terrorists were killed in waters off the shore in Zikim, a town bordering Gaza, who were attempting to infiltrate into Israel. The IDF stated that a Hamas terrorist cell exited a tunnel along the coast of the Gaza Strip to orchestrate their infiltration.
Hamas was holding more than 200 hostages as of Wednesday morning. The terrorist group has recently released four women they had captured.
Israeli officials said that even with a hostage deal, the IDF won't abandon its plans for a ground invasion, Axios reported.
Yonah Jeremy Bob and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.