IDF probing Hamas claims of hostage execution

(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces said on Monday night that it was investigating a claim made by Hamas that a hostage was executed and two others wounded in separate incidents in Gaza.

Al Qassam Brigades spokesman Hudayfa Samir Abdallah al-Kahlout, known by the alias Abu Obeida, published a statement on Telegram on Monday claiming that one Israeli male captive had been executed and two female abductees seriously wounded by their Hamas captors.

“In two separate incidents, two [Hamas] soldiers assigned to guard enemy prisoners fired at a Zionist prisoner, killing him immediately, and also injured two female prisoners critically,” according to the statement. The terrorist group had established a committee to investigate the shootings, and efforts were being made to save the lives of the wounded hostages, it continued.

Abu Obeida blamed the incidents on alleged 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,” he said.

“We currently do not have any intelligence information that allows us to refute or confirm Hamas’s claims,” the IDF said in its statement shortly after the Hamas announcement.

“We will continue to examine and verify the credibility of the message and will update with any more information that we obtain.”

Hamas kidnapped 251 people during its onslaught of the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, in which thousands of terrorists followed by Gazan civilians murdered 1,200 people, wounded thousands more and looted and destroyed property while committing mass atrocities.

It is believed that 111 of the hostages from Oct. 7 remain in Gaza, 39 of whom the IDF has confirmed are deceased. Hamas also holds two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two IDF soldiers killed in 2014.

“For 10 months we have been operating in Gaza, and we do not forget for a moment the hostages being cruelly held by Hamas,” IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Monday night.

“We are deeply concerned about their physical and mental condition, given the prolonged time that has passed and the harsh conditions of their captivity,” he continued.

“The IDF and all of the security agencies are making every effort to create the conditions for their return as quickly as possible. This is our moral and ethical duty, and above all—it is an objective of the war.”