Tel Aviv, 15 October (H.S.):Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reportedly left stunned after a released hostage revealed the cynical reasoning a Hamas leader gave for his freedom during a meeting on Tuesday. The Prime Minister has been meeting with freed hostages and their families at Beilinson Hospital to understand their harrowing ordeals.

During a discussion, Eitan Mor, who was released from Hamas captivity on Monday, shared a startling account. Mor recounted that a senior Hamas leader in Gaza told him his chances of being freed were high precisely because his family had not participated in the widespread protests demanding the government secure a hostage-ceasefire agreement.

According to a report in The Times of Israel, which the Prime Minister's Office has since confirmed, Mor identified the de facto leader of the terrorist group as Izz al-Din al-Haddad, a former commander of Hamas's Gaza City Brigade.

Mor told the Prime Minister that al-Haddad had explicitly told him in captivity, If anyone is to be released first, it will be you. Your father doesn't go to the protests anyway, so we will send you back first.

Mor's father, Zvika, is a prominent figure in the Tikva Forum, a smaller group of hostage families. The forum has consistently opposed previous deals that involved releasing only a small number of hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners and a temporary ceasefire in Gaza.In a related development, hostage families have demanded an urgent meeting with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen.

Eyal Zamir following Hamas's failure to hand over the bodies of deceased captives as stipulated in the agreement. The Hostage and Missing Families Forum stated its intention to confront the military chief directly.

The families will demand clarification from the Chief of Staff as to why the IDF is adhering to the agreement as normal, while there are grave concerns that hostages will remain in captivity because Hamas is openly violating the signed deal, the forum said in a statement.The families accused the IDF of operating with a pre-October 7, 2023, mindset and continuing to trust the words of Hamas, rather than recognizing it as a deceitful and heinous terrorist organization.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar