Hamas urges Hezbollah to kidnap Israeli soldiers in response to new death penalty law in Judea & Samaria

The Hamas terrorist organization, which controls roughly 47% of the Gaza Strip, has been at war with Israel since carrying out a sneak attack and massacre of Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, 2023.

The group has now called on its ally in Lebanon, the Shi’ite terror militia Hezbollah, to kidnap Israeli soldiers as a form of retaliation.

This call comes in response to Israel passing legislation that sets the death penalty for acts of terror in the West Bank that result in a fatality.

On Tuesday, Abu Ubaida, a Hamas spokesperson for the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, declared a message for Hezbollah: “Blessed are the arms of the heroes of the Islamic resistance in Lebanon, who are inflicting heavy losses on the Zionist enemy, the latest of which was during the special operation yesterday. We call on them to intensify their efforts to capture Zionist soldiers in order to free Palestinian and Arab prisoners from the darkness of the prisons of the occupation, especially after the approval of the law to execute prisoners.”

Hamas has said it believes the kidnapping of Israeli troops will contribute to the “liberation of Palestine” and also make Israeli authorities think twice about executing terrorists instead of holding them as bargaining chips to exchange for kidnapped Israelis.

Directly addressing the issue of the Knesset bill passed on Monday that sets the death penalty for terrorist acts carried out in the West Bank, he said it was an example of “Zionist arrogance.”

Ubaida's declaration continued, “The path of the struggle of our people against the Zionists has proven that the shortest way to free prisoners is through resistance, and Gaza has given a great deal for that. We urge the heroes of Hezbollah to complete the mission, and we are certain in God that He will not abandon our free prisoners and will make for them, from what they are in, relief and a way out.”

He also condemned Israel for closing the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem due to wartime conditions.

“This Zionist arrogance, whose latest manifestations were the approval of the law to execute prisoners, the crime of closing Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the aggression against our Arab and Islamic peoples, requires all components of our nation and the free people of the world to exert every possible effort to punish the occupation for its crimes, or at least to pressure it to force it to stop its wrongdoing – and that is the weakest of faith,” the Hamas spokesperson said.

The strategy of kidnapping soldiers – or the bodies of soldiers and civilians who are murdered in terrorist attacks –has been used by Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist factions in the conflict for years. This approach is often seen as a way to pressure Israel into making concessions for the return of hostages, including the remains of those killed, given the importance placed on proper burial. Over the years, including during the past two and a half years of the Iron Swords War, Israel has at times exchanged large numbers of security prisoners, including individuals convicted of serious offenses, for Israeli hostages.

In some cultures in the region, it is considered deeply shameful to allow one’s own people to be taken prisoner, while retrieving captives from an enemy is regarded as a significant honor.

Hezbollah has a history of kidnapping to pressure the Israeli government.

In July 2006, the Lebanese terror group launched a cross-border raid that resulted in the deaths of eight soldiers and the kidnapping of two others – an incident that triggered what became known as the Second Lebanon War. That war lasted 34 days and ended in what most analysts described as a draw, with neither side being able to claim victory or compelled to admit defeat.

However, then-Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah later admitted that if he had known how strongly Israel would react to the raid, which included the kidnapping of IDF soldiers, he would not have authorized it. Two years later, in 2008, the remains of those soldiers, who were killed in captivity, were returned to Israel in exchange for five Hezbollah operatives. Since then, Hezbollah has not kidnapped any more Israelis, and it remains to be seen whether they will heed Hamas’ call to resume the practice in today's conflict.

Finally, the issue of the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount has long been a rallying cry for Palestinian groups, including armed terrorist factions and unarmed civil society groups and religious authorities.