Posted on 07/12/25
| News Source: JPost
Hamas may increase its attempts to kidnap IDF soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip, a Tel Aviv University academic told British outlet The Guardian on Saturday.
"[There is] no doubt Hamas will increase its attempts to take new hostages, including bodies of dead soldiers and civilians,” head of the Palestinian studies forum at Tel Aviv University Michael Milshtein said.
This came after St.-Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Abraham Azulay, 25, was killed in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip after terrorists emerged from a tunnel and tried to abduct him, the IDF reported Wednesday.
Azulay fought back until the terrorists shot him, the military said. Soldiers opened fire, struck several terrorists, and thwarted the abduction.
However, Hamas's focus on a new aim of capturing an IDF soldier during operations in the Gaza Strip could offer the terror group significant new leverage during the negotiations for a ceasefire deal and hostage release, as well as having a major impact on public opinion across Israel, The Guardian noted.