The investigation of the “What is Hidden is Greater” program showed on Al Jazeera an audio recording revealed by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (the military wing of Hamas), to one of the Israeli soldiers it has captured in the Gaza Strip since 2014.
The soldier – whose name was hidden in the recording – appealed to the Israeli government to work to recover its prisoners. This is the first time that the Al-Qassam Brigades have disclosed a recording of this kind.
The captured soldier said, “I wonder: Do the leaders of the state differentiate between the captured soldiers? Do they talk about them and work for their release?”
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The Al-Qassam Brigades maintains 4 Israelis, including two soldiers who were captured during the 2014 war, while the other two – who, according to reports, are two demobilized soldiers – entered Gaza under unclear circumstances.
Hamas has not previously disclosed the fate of the four detainees or their health status, but Israel claims that the two soldiers were killed in the war, and that the Al-Qassam Brigades keep only their remains.
After the audio recording was published, commentators said that it belonged to the Israeli prisoner of Ethiopian origin, Avraham Mengistu, and the security establishment in Israel was quick to comment by saying, “The defense apparatus is examining an audio recording attributed to an Israeli prisoner of war, broadcast by Al Jazeera, citing Hamas, claiming that it belongs to one of the Israeli citizens detained in Gaza”.
For his part, the coordinator of the affairs of prisoners and missing persons in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, Yeron Bloom, said that Hamas is in distress after the “severe blows” it received in the recent military campaign, and is trying to carry out a “cheap and scandalous manipulation operation.”
He added that Israel is aware of the condition of soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, who have had mercy on them; In reference to the fact that Tel Aviv believes that they were killed during the 2014 war on the Gaza Strip.
He stated that Israel is also aware of “the situation of civilians Avraham Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who crossed the border while alive. The State of Israel will continue to act with determination and responsibility to recover its military and civilian children.”
An exclusive interview with the deputy commander of the Qassam Brigades
The investigation also revealed “what is hidden greater in the grip of the resistance” with documents and an exclusive interview with Marwan Issa, the deputy chief of staff of the Qassam Brigades; About Al-Qassam’s possession of bargaining chips to achieve an “honorable prisoner exchange deal”.
Issa stated that the most important file at the present time with the resistance is the file of prisoners to stop their suffering, stressing that the “shadow unit” will continue to work to preserve the prisoners in its hands.
Shalit operation
“What is Hidden is Greater” also showed exclusive footage shown for the first time of the process of capturing Corporal Gilad Shalit on June 5, 2006, and exclusive documents of the negotiations on the prisoner exchange process in exchange for the release of the captured soldier.
According to what the investigation revealed, the operation was carried out by 7 fighters from the Al-Qassam Brigades, the Popular Resistance Committees, and the Army of Islam. At that time, two Israeli soldiers were killed, while the third soldier, Gilad Shalit, was captured. Some of the perpetrators of the operation recounted its details, and how it took place through a tunnel behind the “enemy lines”, where they were able to kill two soldiers, capture a third, and return him to the besieged sector.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke of the “very heavy” price that Israel paid for liberating the soldiers kidnapped by the resistance, believing that any future Israeli government would not pay what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid for the release of Shalit, in 2011, in exchange for releasing Shalit. 1027 Palestinians.
He added that the negotiation process with Hamas was very difficult before he left the government, revealing that some Arab presidents offered to help them complete the exchange deal.
Gerhard Konrad, the German mediator in the deal, said that he began working on mediation efforts after Netanyahu asked Germany to enter the negotiating line to speed up the completion of the deal. About 20 Palestinian women.
Conrad also talked about Marwan Issa, saying that he was the second man in the negotiations after the leader of Hamas, Ahmed al-Jabari. He was a man keen to scrutinize the lists, and he knew the files.