Freed Hostage Almog Meir Jan (Police video)
There is new testimony from people in Gaza who lived near the private residence where Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists were kept. Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, Shlomi Ziv, were held in the home of Dr. Ahmed Al Jamal and the Wall Street Journal spoke to locals about it.
The Wall Street Journal merely followed up on what was already reported by the IDF: Ahmed Al Jamal held three of the freed Israeli hostages in his home in Nuseirat, Gaza. He was killed in the rescue and his home was destroyed.
“Dr. Ahmed was the one who brought my three sons together,” Ali Bakhit, a consultant for social networks from Nusirat, told the American newspaper. “He was a nice character, the smile never left his face.” He said that he grew up listening to Al-Jamal’s voice in the mosque , and was surprised to hear that the family – originally from Ramla – was responsible for holding hostages. According to him, he did not expect the Al-Jamal family to be involved in any way in the war.
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The rescue operation involved two buildings where the hostages were held, roughly 200 meters apart. Security forces decided to simultaneously target both locations to prevent Hamas from executing the hostages upon recognizing the rescue attempt at the other site.
Locals are understandably concerned with the possibility that Hamas may be keeping hostages near their homes.
“Hamas should give us a map of areas we can be in. If we knew there were abductees there – we would look for another place,” Mustafa Muhammad, told the Wall Street Journal.
The New York Times reported last week that Hamas terrorist leaders have reportedly given standing orders to the terrorists who hold the Israeli hostages that if they believe Israeli forces are approaching, their first action should be to shoot the captives. This information, sourced from Israeli officials, adds a harrowing dimension to the ongoing conflict.
A small group of hostages is believed to be held near Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in Gaza, effectively using them as human shields to complicate Israeli efforts to target him. Sinwar is reportedly hiding in the vast tunnel network beneath Khan Younis.
Initially, intelligence suggested that most hostages were kept in tunnels. However, it has since been recognized that keeping hostages in the apartments of Hamas supporters is more manageable for the terrorists. Following the successful rescue operation, it is expected that Hamas will move more hostages into tunnels, potentially reducing the chances of further aboveground rescue raids.
