Hamas spokesman says there are no plans to release hostages

A Palestinian woman mourns after an Israeli airstrike at the Rafah refugee camp, in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images

Mediators are pressing for an agreement that will allow aid to enter the Gaza Strip and refugees with foreign passports out of the enclave. The efforts come as the World Health Organization is warning that Gaza faces an “imminent” public health crisis.

As Palestinians struggle to find safe passage, health care and clean, reliable water a spokesman for Hamas, Ghazi Hamad, remained unrepentant for his group’s attack on Israel.

Israel says it will not stop its attacks until it has destroyed Hamas.

“Every Hamas member is a dead man,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week.

More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, the vast majority of that number during the unprecedented Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that included the taking of almost 200 hostages. Since then, Israel has killed more than 2,800 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, which added that another 9,700 in Gaza have been wounded.

The group’s surprise attack targeted a music festival, where militants killed more than 200 people and sent young people fleeing into bomb shelters.

“This is a fake story. This is a fake story. Hundred percent,” Hamad said.

Hamad spoke to NPR’s Steve Inskeep for Morning Edition from inside Gaza. He didn’t disclose a specific location.

Of that attack, which started this latest conflict, Hamad said: “We want to get the attention of the world. We are under oppression and torture and collective punishment all the time. That’s our message for the world.”

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