What fate lies in store for the women and children taken hostage by Hamas? Israel faces race against time to save more than 100 captives set to be used as political pawns… if they survive

Fears are growing for the fate of more than 100 people who were taken hostage in Israel by Hamas gunmen and dragged across the border into Gaza as the Palestinian militant group launched its deadly surprise attack on Saturday.

Harrowing footage and video footage showed how terrified women were torn from their partners and driven away on motorbikes, while others were beaten and handcuffed before being put into the back of trucks.

The prisoners are known to include soldiers and civilians, including women, children and the elderly, mostly Israelis, but also some people of other nationalities.

Hamas has not yet released the exact number of hostages it has taken, but a spokesman said they had captured more Israelis on Monday morning, even as the two sides have been engaged in heavy gun battles and are exchanging rocket attacks.

Counter-terrorism expert and former member of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Aaron Cohen would not comment on the potential fate of the hostages, but warned that they are likely to be dispersed and dispersed if not rescued soon.

“The longer Israel waits to be able to carry out those hostage rescues in Gaza, the longer the terrorists will have to move around those hostages, which makes it more difficult for our Mossad and our security agencies or Shin Bet intelligence to find them,” he said. in an interview with Fox News.

‘The the longer they wait, the more those pawns will move.’

Meanwhile, a statement provided to the AP by Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua suggested that the hostages could be used as bargaining chips to push for the release of Palestinian political prisoners in Israel.

The Hamas spokesman said the group wants to “free all Palestinian prisoners” from Israel and end Israeli provocations in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, particularly at the Al-Aqsa mosque – a site considered holy to Palestinians. as well as for Israelis who have previously been at the center of other deadly conflicts.

Images shared on social media appear to show an armed Hamas militant taking a bound and wounded Israeli woman hostage.

Sitting on the back of a terrorist’s motorbike, her arms outstretched towards her helpless boyfriend, student Noa Argamani pleads for her life

Along with hundreds of other young Israelis, Noa (pictured) and Avi were enjoying a peace festival in the desert when they were forced to flee for their lives.

Israel must ‘act fast’ to rescue hostages taken by Hamas in Gaza or risk losing them to Palestinian control, intelligence expert warns

“We are in an open battle to protect our people and Al-Aqsa Mosque,” the Hamas spokesman said.

“This battle is about freeing all Palestinian prisoners and ending the activities of this fascist government in Jerusalem.”

He said the group had captured “a large number of Israelis” in Gaza, without giving a specific figure.

He said Hamas’s military wing, al-Qassam, would release the figures later, but added that more hostages were taken this morning in the Israeli town of Sderot, which is less than a kilometer from Gaza.

The United Arab Emirates – a country that has had historic tensions with Israel but established diplomatic relations in 2020 – said it was ‘horrified’ that Israeli civilians were taken hostage in the Hamas attack.

“The (foreign) ministry stressed that Hamas attacks against Israeli towns and villages near the Gaza Strip, including the firing of thousands of rockets at population centers, are a serious and grave escalation,” it said in a statement late Sunday.

“The Ministry is appalled by reports that Israeli civilians have been kidnapped from their homes.”

The statement is significantly less neutral than the UAE’s initial response on Saturday, which simply “expressed grave concern about the escalation of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.”

“The UAE expresses its condolences to the families of the victims and calls for all diplomatic efforts to prevent a wider regional confrontation,” the latest statement said, warning against “nihilistic destruction.”

Israeli police officers evacuate a family from a site hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023

Israeli airstrikes on the National Islamic Bank of Gaza destroy buildings and neighborhoods in the Rimal district of Gaza City, Gaza on October 08, 2023

Palestinians inspect the damage after Israeli strikes, following a surprise attack by Hamas, at the beach refugee camp in Gaza City, October 9, 2023

A man stands among the ruins of a mosque destroyed during Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City

Now, Israel’s military is scouring the country’s south for Hamas fighters and manning cracks in its border fence with tanks on Monday as it struck the Gaza Strip from the air and built up for a campaign its prime minister said would destroy ‘military and governing skills. ‘ of the militant group.

More than two days after Hamas launched its unprecedented incursion from Gaza, the military said fighting had largely subsided for now. But Israel formally declared war on Sunday and a possible ground attack on Gaza – a move that is likely to see efforts to rescue the hostages but has in the past resulted in intensified casualties.

Civilians are already paying a high price. About 700 people have been killed in Israel – a staggering number given the scale of recent conflicts.

Nearly 500 have been killed in Gaza, a small, impoverished enclave of 2.3 million Palestinians bordering Israel and Egypt.

Now, Israeli tanks and drones, meanwhile, were guarding openings in the border fence to prevent further infiltration, military officials said, adding that 15 of the 24 border communities have been evacuated, with the rest expected to be evacuated in the next 24 hours.

Once the communities are evacuated, it is likely that Israel will increase offensive military operations in the region.

“Our job is to make sure that Hamas no longer has any military capability to threaten Israel with this,” spokesman Jonathan Conricus said in a video posted on Twitter by the Israeli military.

And in addition, we will make sure that Hamas is no longer able to govern the Gaza Strip.