The armed wing of the Palestinian movement Hamas announced on Thursday that “approximately 50” Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip have been killed as a result of Israeli bombardments since the start of the war that began on October 7.
“Al-Qassam Brigades estimate that the number of Zionist hostages killed in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Zionist bombings and massacres was around 50”the Palestinian Islamist movement said in a message on Telegram, information that has not yet been verified by an independent source.
The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which uses the term “Zionist” to refer to Israelis, had said on October 16 that 22 hostages had been killed.
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari updated the number of hostages identified. “We informed the families of 224 hostages that their relatives were being held in the Gaza Strip,” he explained. Until then, the Israeli forces had counted 222 hostages.
“This number evolves based on the information we obtain. It will keep changing. Efforts to return the hostages are an absolute priority.”the spokesperson added.
According to information from the Israeli government, which AFP was unable to verify with an independent source, at least half of the hostages have foreign passports.
According to Israeli authorities, more than 1,400 people were killed in the attack promoted by Hamas in Israel on October 7.
Israel responded to this attack with a bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip, which Hamas claims has killed more than 7,000 people.
Source: DN
