Hamas fighters have been urged to kidnap more Israelis to facilitate the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – A Hamas terrorist leader called for more kidnappings of Israelis in order to facilitate the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Speaking at a rally on the so-called “Palestinian Prisoner Day” in Gaza, Hamas official Khalil al-Haya said that “we will fight you (Israel) until we get rid of you for good and we will take as many prisoners as possible to liberate our heroes… Our men, our women, our children always think of kidnapping your soldiers and settlers, wherever they may be,” AFP reported.

“We say to our prisoners, rest assured! For the Palestinian resistance, with the Izz ad-Din al Qassam Brigades at the front line, can liberate you like they liberated your brothers” in 2011, added Haya, referencing Israel’s exchange of more than 1,000 prisoners for Hamas captive Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier abducted in 2006 via a tunnel underneath the Israel-Gaza border.

According to the Times of Israel, Hamas has accelerated its rebuilding of terror tunnels underneath that border using heavy machinery and new engineering tools. Last summer, Israel launched a ground operation as part of Operation Protective Edge in order to destroy the Hamas tunnels. A report earlier this month in The Telegraph said that Hamas has received tens of millions of dollars from Iran in order to rebuild its tunnel infrastructure and rocket arsenal.