Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, May 23, 2024
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, May 23, 2024
Hamas claims to be holding IDF colonel captured on October 7, previously reported dead by Israel
File: Family and friends of Col. Asaf Hamami mourn during his funeral in Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv, December 4, 2023. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
Hamas announces that it is holding Col. Asaf Hamami, 41, captured on October 7, who the Israel Defense Forces had previously reported was killed in the attacks that day.
The Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades says Hamami had been wounded during his capture.
The statement supplies no proof, and does not specify whether he is still alive.
Hamami, the commander of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade, was believed to have been killed fighting in the defense of Kibbutz Nirim.
His death was declared by the chief rabbi in December, based on findings obtained by the military in the Gaza Strip, allowing his family to have a funeral according to Jewish law.
