Alarming new developments broke Thursday afternoon as Hamas continues to hold more than 200 hostages, including at least 10 Americans, in the Gaza Strip.
According to Israeli Knesset member Merav Michaeli, the government of Iran is attempting to gain direct custody of the hostages.
"Iran in a cruel race is trying to get its hands on hundreds of our abductees. This could be a cry for generations if we do not raise the issue of the abducted Shabbat to the top of the order of priorities at this time. This will be another failure of yours against Iran, Netanyahu. This must not happen. Do what it takes to get them back now," Michaeli wrote on Twitter Thursday.
איראן במרוץ אכזרי מנסה לשים את ידיה על מאות החטופות והחטופים שלנו. זו עלולה להיות בכיה לדורות אם לא נעלה את נושא השבת החטופים לראש סדר העדיפויות בעת הזו. זה יהיה עוד כשלון שלך מול איראן, נתניהו. אסור שזה יקרה. עשה מה שצריך כדי להחזיר אותם עכשיו.
— Merav Michaeli מרב מיכאלי (@MeravMichaeli) October 26, 2023
Iran may be trying to gain custody of Israeli hostages from Hamas. https://t.co/oObWaCXoMI
— Jonathan Schanzer (@JSchanzer) October 26, 2023
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian confirmed the efforts during an address to the United Nations Thursday afternoon. Amir-Abdollahian and Hamas could be lying, of course, but the development is still highly alarming.
Hear this 👀
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) October 26, 2023
Iranian FM in UN General Assembly speech says Hamas “voiced their readiness” to hand over all the civilian hostages to IRAN who would then negotiate, along with Qatar and Turkey, their release in exchange for the release of 6,000 terrorists in Israeli jails. pic.twitter.com/CnI7HmJPGn
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