Israel says it can't 'confirm or refute' Hamas's claims that a hostage has died in Gaza
Areas of Gaza, including civilians' homes, continue to fall under air strike attacks launched by Israeli forces.
In short:
The terror organisation Hamas claims a female Israeli hostage taken captive on October 7, 2023, has died in northern Gaza.
Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said the military "cannot confirm or refute" the claims.
What's next?
The IDF said it is in contact with the family of the hostage and was examining information about footage released by Hamas allegedly showing the hostage.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) says it is in contact with the family of a hostage who Hamas claims died in northern Gaza.
The IDF said it could not "confirm or refute" the terrorist group's claims that the female hostage had died.
Abu Obedia, a spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas known as the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said on Saturday that contact had been restored with the woman's captors after a break of several weeks and it was determined that the hostage had died in an area of north Gaza where the Israeli army had been operating.
The statement from Abu Obeida did not further identify the hostage or say how or when she died, but said the woman had been taken captive during Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said in a statement posted on X that the Israeli military "cannot confirm or refute" the claims.
Abu Obeida said the woman had been held captive with a second female hostage whose life was in danger.
During the October 7 attack by Hamas, which triggered Israel's conflict with the terror organisation in Gaza, militants took 251 hostages, including 97 who are still held in Gaza and 34 the IDF says are dead.
Ten female hostages, including five soldiers, were believed to remain alive in custody before Abu Obeida's statement, according to an AFP tally.
During a one-week truce in November last year, 105 hostages were freed, including 80 Israelis who were exchanged for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
The Israeli government has come under immense public pressure to agree a new deal to bring the remaining hostages home while they are still alive.
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum campaign group said it had no further information about claims made by Hamas on Saturday.
"Nothing is known other than what Hamas is saying. Our only reliable source is the Israeli army," the group told AFP.
The claim by Hamas came after the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza was hit by Israeli armed drone and air strikes on Friday, injuring nine medical staff and damaging the facility's generator and oxygen systems, according to the hospital's director.
The strikes on the hospital were part of a wider series of hits on the enclave, with Palestinian health officials saying at least 120 Palestinians were killed in the 48 hours to Sunday.
Hamas's attack on October 7 last year resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed 44,176 people in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
ABC/AFP
By:ABC(责任编辑:admin)
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