Baby Hostage Taunt Ahead of Israeli Strike

Hamas terrorists have released chilling footage showing heavily armed militants holding a kidnapped Israeli baby and toddler as Israel continued to prepare for a troop ­invasion as early as Sunday.

The release of the video – captioned “Hamas fighters, showing compassion for children in the midst of the Kibbutz “Holet” battles on day one of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” – has only hardened the Israel Defence Force’s resolve to find the rest of the hostages before more are executed or killed in the impending conflict.

Israeli tanks and a small elite special forces unit crossed the border into Gaza to knock out defences and search for the hostages. Hamas and the IDF have exchanged a barrage of rockets and artillery Friday and Saturday.

The Israeli military last night said a drone had killed a number of militants who tried to infiltrate from Lebanon, and a senior military commander of Hamas who headed the Islamist group’s aerial operations in Gaza City had been killed in Israeli air strikes.

Murad Abu Murad was killed over the past day when fighter jets struck an operational centre of Hamas from where the group carried out its “aerial activity”, the military said. There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas.in the past 24 hours.

Hamas claimed 13 hostages had been killed alongside 70 Palestinian civilians after Israel continued to bomb Gaza.

The IDF said while it did take out Hamas strongholds, it also recovered the bodies of a number of hostages. Their identities and nationalities are yet to be revealed.

In the 30-second video – which was posted to a Hamas Telegram channel – a terrorist rocks the baby in a pram while a boy, no older than five, sits on his lap. An assault rifle can be seen on the table.

In another scene a man is heard telling the young boy to say “bismillah” – which means “in the name of God” in Arabic – before encouraging him to drink from a cup.

Near the end, a man wearing a balaclava and headband holds both children in his arms while speaking directly to the camera in Arabic.

It is not known when the footage was shot but militants filmed themselves sitting around an outdoor table surrounded by lush greenery, while in another scene one of the men is in what appears to be the loungeroom of a family home.

Hamas attacked Kibbutz Holet during a mass assault on at least five Israeli communities near the Gaza border earlier this week, murdering 13 Israelis.

In a rare televised address after the beginning of the Sabbath, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We are striking our ­enemies with unprecedented might. I emphasise that this is only the beginning.”

The plight of Australians inside Gaza hoping to escape the crisis remains unknown.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it was still in talks to get at least 19 people out via Egypt, which was close to agreeing with diplomatic ­appeals to open borders for foreigners to flee.

The first Qantas mercy flight touched down in London carrying more than 230 Aussies. But a second Qantas mercy flight due to bring more than 200 Australians stranded in Israel home on Sunday was last night cancelled after government assessments deemed it too dangerous.

The move was likely affected by Hamas managing to fire its longest range rocket yet to north Israel beyond the Tel Aviv airport.

The UN meanwhile confirmed tens of thousands of Gazan civilians had heeded Israeli warnings to flee the north of Gaza Strip or face likely death but more than one million citizens were struggling to move in the set 24-hour deadline.

Local footage showed the main highway – the Salah al-Din Rd, which stretches the full length of Gaza – packed with vehicles laden with home goods, as well as carts pulled by donkeys and people on foot.

The set 24-hour flee deadline has now expired.

For Palestinians, the question of whether to flee was as much to do with the continued Israeli artillery shelling and blocked roads as it was to widespread confusion about where exactly to go. The Hamas militants demanded that Palestinians stay or face the prospect of permanently losing their land as they did in 1948 when war created Israel within Palestine.

Mosques had been broadcasting the message: “Hold on to your homes. Hold on to your land.”

Israel considers the Hamas push for civilians to stay is because it helps its impending urban warfare strategy that will employ civilians as human shields.

Hamas has also been telling Palestinians there is ­nowhere to go. Egypt has closed its border in anticipation of a flood of refugees and told those already there to return to their homes.

The chaos comes as the ­entire Middle East threatens to descend into conflict with tension high and angry protests in support of the Palestinians in Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Iraq.