Hamas’s armed wing said on Monday that hostages would return to Israel “inside coffins” if military pressure continued, warning that “new instructions” had been given to the militants guarding the captives if Israeli troops approached.

“(Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s insistence on liberating the prisoners through military pressure instead of concluding a deal will mean that they will return to their families inside coffins,” Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement.

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“New instructions were issued to the mujahideen assigned to guard the prisoners regarding dealing with them if the occupation army approached their place of detention,” he said, after Netanyahu earlier said the six hostages whose bodies were recovered at the weekend had been “executed”.