Sick: Hamas ‘Affilates” Harass Relatives of Hostages with Threatening Calls and Messages from Loved Ones’ Phones
According to multiple reports, Hamas ‘affiliates’ are harassing the relatives of hostages taken after the October 7 terror attacks with threatening phone calls and messages coming from their loved ones’ phones.
The calls demand ransom payments and threaten that without action, they may never see their loved ones again.
The messages also included warnings such as, “If you don’t fight the government, you won’t see your loved ones return.”
Some messages even promise to tell heartbroken relatives where their loved ones are being held.
The Jerusalem Post reports that the terror group sent ransom requests, claiming that without payment, the hostage families wouldn’t receive information about their loved ones.
The families have since passed the phone numbers to the Shin Bet.
An initial investigation suggests that those behind the threats are hostile actors, either of Iranian origin or affiliated with Hamas.
Knewz.com reports that one relative, Gil Dickmann, began receiving these communications as early as November of 2023, only a month after the attacks.
In Dickmann’s case, the first communication read: “Family: This is a message from Al Qassam.”
The phone the message was sent from belonged to Carmel Gat, Dickmann’s cousin, who along with her (Gat’s) mother, Kinneret, were kidnapped.
“We have proposed to your administration a hostage exchange, but it wasn’t accepted,” the communication continued.
“If you want to know the situation of all your hostages be in touch with us,” the message concluded, and shared a contact link to the militant group.
Dickmann soon learned that his aunt had already been murdered by Hamas and the sick communication was a phishing attempt.
Dickmann received additional messages suggesting they knew where some hostages were being held.
Days before the release of hostages began, Dickmann received a separate flurry of WhatsApp messages from what appeared to be a Jordanian phone number. “Are you a relative of our detainee Carmel Gat?” it said. “I have some news about her that I want to convey to her family.”
The person claimed to know the guard who has been patrolling the house where Gat is allegedly being held in Gaza—and that she is “still alive and in good health” but that they are low on food, water and medicine and that disease is beginning to spread.
When Dickmann inquired about other relatives, the person said he knew their whereabouts as well. “Yes my friend,” he responded a minute later. “Know where all the kidnappe[d] are. And I know what their circumstances are like. Who died and who survived. Unfortunately, there are approximately 80 abductees who were killed due to Israeli air strikes.”