Al Qaeda urges release of Israeli hostages

An adviser to Al Qaeda's likely current leader is calling for Hamas to release its Israeli hostages held in Gaza, according to an American jihadist monitoring organisation, SITE.

The online declaration was made Friday by Mustafa Hamid, also known as Abu Walid al-Masri, who is father-in-law to Saif al-Adel, the man widely believed to now head Al-Qaeda, according to SITE.

In it, Hamid claimed the attention given to recovering the Israeli hostages, both dead and alive, was overshadowing the fate of Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel. He also hailed Yahya Sinwar.

Hamas must now "immediately" return the hostages and their bodies, and "this file must be closed and not opened again, as we know its consequences," according to the statement.

"No one cares about the Palestinian prisoners, neither in the media, in negotiations, nor in demonstrations," it said.