Hamas says its guards killed a hostage, wounded two others; IDF investigating claim
Terror group spokesman pins responsibility on Israel, says efforts underway to save two severely injured female captives
The military wing of Hamas on Monday said that members of the terror group assigned to guard Israeli hostages killed a male captive and seriously wounded another two female hostages. The Israel Defense Forces said it could neither confirm nor deny the claim.
Hudhaifa Kahlout — known by the nom de guerre Abu Obeida — the spokesman for the Al Qassam Brigades, said in a statement that the shootings had happened in two separate incidents and that “attempts are being made to save” the lives of the wounded hostages.
Abu Obeida’s statement, issued on Telegram, did not identify the hostages or say when or where the incidents occurred.
He blamed the incident on what he described as Israeli “massacres” against Palestinians.
“The enemy government [Israel] bears full responsibility for these massacres and the resulting reactions that affect the lives of Zionist prisoners,” Abu Obeida said.
He also said that a committee had been formed to investigate the incidents.
Shortly after the announcement by Hamas, the IDF said that, “at this stage, we do not have any intelligence that allows us to refute or confirm the claims of Hamas.”
“We are continuing to check and investigate the credibility of the statement, and will update as soon as possible with any information we have,” the IDF added in a statement.
It was the first time Hamas has said its guards killed hostages. The terror group has often attributed previous killings of hostages to Israeli strikes.
Israel has generally dismissed Hamas’s statements on the deaths of hostages as deplorable psychological warfare.
The terror group kidnapped 251 people during its thousands-strong rampage through southern Israel on October 7, which left nearly 1,200 people dead.
It is believed that 111 of the hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF. The terror group is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
At the beginning of the war, Abu Obeida threatened to execute Israeli hostages and release footage of the killings.
