Hamas says it did 'everything in their power to protect' Israeli captives

Hamas said that al-Qassam and other groups in Gaza "did everything in their power" to protect the captives, but Israel's bombing campaign on the strip "prevented the rescue" of all the captives, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

"To the families of Bibas and Lifshitz: We would have preferred your sons to return alive, but your leaders chose to kill them along with 17,881 Palestinian children," the Hamas statement said.

The group also blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for trying to evade responsibility for the killing of the captives.