Professor at the Al-Umma University in Gaza and political commentator at Palestine News Dr. Husam Al-Dajani alleged that the two soldiers pronounced dead during operation Protective Edge were alive and being held hostage by Hamas.
Al-Dajani called on the soldiers' families to exert pressure on Israel's government to release Hamas security terrorists in return for the soldiers and additional Israelis held by the terrorist group.
He also claimed that there were a number of measures the soldiers' families could undertake to secure the release of their loved ones and that among these were:
1. The full understanding that Netanyahu and Gantz had the capacity to get a deal done.
2. Realization that the blockade on Gaza and Israel's aggression would not help in furthering the matter.
3. A national campaign to pressure the Israeli government to acquiesce to Hamas demands.
Al-Dajani noted that if such a campaign were to be carried out, it would make the soldiers' families as well as those of 6,500 "security prisoners" in Israeli jails "very happy."