Palestinian militants capture over 130 Israelis

Hamas militants have taken over 100 people hostage during an attack on Israel, including high-ranking officials, and another 30 Israelis have been captured by militants from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.

Source: Musa Abu Marzouk, Palestinian senior member of Hamas; Ziyad al-Nakhalah, leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group; Ynet

Details: At the same time, Ziyad al-Nakhalah reported that his militants had taken about 30 Israelis hostage. The leader emphasised that the hostages will return home only if Palestinian prisoners are released from Israeli prisons.

The Israeli government did not give precise estimates of the number of citizens captured by Hamas militants. It was believed that there may be 150 to 200 people in captivity.

Media reports have said the hostages may include citizens of other countries, including the USA, Germany and Thailand.

Background:
Senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shiite Islamist political party and militant group, have said that Iranian security officials helped plan Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel and gave the green light for the attack at a meeting in Beirut last Monday.

The United States wants to redeploy US Navy ships and aircraft closer to Israel.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has reported that the Shayetet 13 Navy unit detained Muhammad Abu Ghali, Deputy Commander of Hamas’ southern naval force in Gaza.

Hamas said that it had launched “a major rocket attack with 100 rockets.

Source » yahoo.com