From the editors of the Palestine Chronicle

There are conflicting reports about the circumstances. Some suggest that the prisoner escaped his captors.

The Israeli army announced on Tuesday that it had managed to free a prisoner held in Gaza who was found in a tunnel in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

Reuters news agency quoted the Israeli army as saying that Farhan al-Qadi, a 52-year-old Bedouin from southern Israel, was taken to a hospital where his condition had stabilized.

The New York Times reported that al-Qadi was a member of Israel’s Bedouin community and worked as a security guard in an Israeli kibbutz near Gaza.

Contradictory reports

There are conflicting reports about the circumstances. Some say the prisoner escaped from his captors, while others say he was found alone and unguarded.

The Israeli military confirmed that its forces rescued prisoner Farhan Al-Qadi alive and that he was being taken to Soroka Hospital for further examination.

Palestinian resistance groups, which are involved in ongoing clashes with Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, have not yet issued a statement on the incident.

⚡️Israel is trying to twist the story and say they carried out a major, heroic rescue operation, but that is NOT true.

Haaretz: Farhan al-Qadi managed to escape his captors in a tunnel in Gaza before the army could rescue him pic.twitter.com/zX7Hzg7GX2

— Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws) 27 August 2024

At a press conference, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said that no further details about the rescue operation could be disclosed. He stressed that efforts to return all prisoners were ongoing, noting that “108 prisoners, including women, are still being held in Gaza.”

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that al-Qadi managed to escape his captors in a tunnel in the Gaza Strip before being rescued by the army, but this account differs from official statements.

The New York Times quoted Israeli officials as saying that al-Qadi was discovered by chance during a tunnel operation in the south of the Gaza Strip; he was found alone and without guards.

Anadolu news agency pointed out inconsistencies in Israeli reports about the return of al-Qadi, who had been held in Gaza since October 7. Other Israeli media cited by Al-Jazeera suggested that al-Qadi had fled before the army intervened, contradicting the official version.

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Late last month, Israel announced that it had recovered the bodies of five prisoners, including four soldiers, during an operation in Khan Yunis. Earlier, the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced that two Israeli prisoners had been killed in an Israeli airstrike on Rafah.

Last week, the Israel Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) reported that the army and Shabak domestic intelligence agency had recovered the bodies of six detainees from a tunnel in the Khan Yunis area. Initial reports indicate that they were still alive at the time of their capture, but the cause of death is still unclear.

Israel Hayom subsequently reported that the bodies were being examined to determine whether they had been killed by Israeli fire. The incident has increased internal criticism of the government and increased calls for a prisoner exchange with Palestinian resistance groups.

What do the editors of the Palestine Chronicle think?

It is difficult to determine what actually happened because Palestinian resistance spokespeople have not yet presented their version of the story.

However, the Israeli prisoner may have escaped after his captors were killed or wounded under unclear circumstances.

The Israeli army has been keen to use the version of the story that says al-Qadi was freed by a military operation. This claim is politically advantageous for the Israeli army and Netanyahu personally. But it is unlikely to be the correct version of events. Why?

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When Israel tries to release one of its prisoners, it does so based on precise intelligence. Israel has tried to do so several times over the past ten months, and has often failed to release its prisoners, with the exception of the Nuseirat massacre on June 8.

Although the exact details of the events in Nuseirat remain unclear, Israel reportedly released four prisoners, killing at least 274 Palestinian civilians and injuring over 800 others.

Palestinian resistance sources also said that three other prisoners were killed in the Israeli operation and that an Israeli officer was also killed in the rescue operation.

Therefore, the pattern of these rescue operations followed a similar pattern: extensive aerial bombing, massive and bloody incursions, and the like.

In the case of al-Qadi, however, there were no such events prior to his release. This suggests that whatever version the events leading to his release may be, most likely had little to do with an Israeli military operation.

(The Palestine Chronicle)