Hamas says lost contact with group holding Israeli-American captive in Gaza
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas says it has lost contact with the group guarding an Israeli-American captive in the Gaza Strip following an Israeli strike on their location in the besieged territory.
Abu Obeida, spokesman for the group’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, made the remarks in a post on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.
“We announce that we have lost contact with the team guarding soldier Edan Alexander following a direct Israeli bombardment targeting their location. We are still trying to reach them,” he said.
“It seems that the occupation army is deliberately trying to kill him and hence relieve themselves from the pressure caused by the dual-citizen prisoners in order to continue its genocide against our people,” the spokesman added.
On April 12, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades released a video showing Edan Alexander alive, in which he criticizes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s regime for failing to secure his release.
Edan Alexander, who was a soldier with the Israeli military, is believed to be the last living American-Israeli captive held by Hamas in Gaza.
In March, Hamas expressed its readiness to release him, saying the move is conditional on beginning of the talks on the second phase of the ceasefire agreement towards a permanent end to the genocidal war.
Israel, however, accused Hamas of engaging in “psychological warfare at the time.
Hamas took about 250 people captive during its unprecedented operation against the occupied territories on October 7, 2023.
Israel launched the campaign of genocide in Gaza following the Hamas surprise attack. The regime has massacred over 50,900 Palestinians, injuring more than 116,200, and displacing almost 2.2 million people.
In January, the Israeli regime was forced to agree to a ceasefire deal with Hamas, given the regime’s failure to achieve any of its objectives, including the “elimination” of the Palestinian resistance movement or the release of captives.
During the first phase of the deal, Hamas exchanged 33 Israeli captives and five Thais for some 2,000 Palestinians.
The 42-day stage of the truce, which was marred by repeated Israeli violations, expired on March 1, with Israel calling for an extension of the truce to allow the release of the remaining captives.
Hamas has insisted on proceeding to negotiations on a permanent ceasefire before agreeing to any further releases.
On March 18, Israel unilaterally broke the truce and resumed its relentless bombing of Gaza.
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