Everything, and I do mean e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g, that comes from the mouth of Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson Abu Obaida, should be viewed through the prism of extremist propaganda. Hamas is doing and saying everything possible to manipulate media and create pressure on Israel in advance of the ground invasion.
That said, Abu Obaida is claiming that “at least” 250 hostages were taken during the terrorist attack on October 7th, yet some of the hostages were not taken by official Hamas groups, but by other members of the Palestinian resistance who crossed the border behind Hamas to retrieve hostages “for their own purposes.”
The number of non-Hamas hostages is claimed to be around 50, possibly more, and they were likely abducted for pathological purposes, ie. torture for fun and Palestinian enjoyment, community abuse to be recorded for celebratory purposes, public rape and sex slavery, along with other forms of horrific human degradation. [If any of these people are factually still alive, they would likely be better off dead.]
Abu Obaida is claiming that Hamas officially has 200 hostages, and “some” of them are foreign nationals. They are willing to release the “foreign nationals” unconditionally when passage is safe. This “foreign nationals” part of the claim appears intended to target the international community of public opinion – to put pressure on Israel to back off.
Richard Engel (MSNBC) has a video report here. Although, I would caution you to review this narrative with extreme cynicism. Time Magazine has also reviewed the Abu Obaida video statement, and their review/analysis is below:





