The military wing of Palestinian Hamas “estimated” Thursday that “nearly fifty” Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip had been killed by Israeli strikes since the start of the war on October 7.
“The Qassam Brigades estimate that the number of Zionist hostages who were killed in the Gaza Strip due to Zionist bombings and massacres reached nearly fifty,” the Palestinian Islamist group said in a message on Telegram, a claim which could not be independently verified.
224 hostages identified by Israel
Hamas, which uses the term “Zionists” to designate Israelis, reported 22 hostages killed on October 16. For his part, Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari slightly increased the number of identified hostages on Thursday: “We informed the families of 224 hostages” that their loved ones were detained in the Gaza Strip ( compared to 222 previously).
“This figure has evolved based on the information we obtain. This will continue to evolve. Efforts to bring back the hostages are the absolute priority,” assured Daniel Hagari.
According to data communicated by the Israeli government, which AFP was unable to independently verify, at least half of these hostages have a foreign passport.