Hamas raises fears for hostage at centre of latest Gaza truce offer
· CNA · JoinRead a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: Hamas said Tuesday (Apr 15) that after an Israeli strike, it had "lost contact" with the captors of an Israeli-American hostage in Gaza, whose release takes centre stage in Israel's latest proposal for a renewed ceasefire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited northern Gaza on Tuesday, his office announced, as the military kept up the offensive it resumed on Mar 18, effectively ending a two-month ceasefire.
"We announce that we have lost contact with the group holding soldier Edan Alexander following a direct strike on their location. We are still trying to reach them at this moment," Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas's military wing the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said on his Telegram channel.
The military wing later released a video addressed to the families of the remaining hostages, warning them that their loved ones were likely to return in coffins if Israel kept up its bombardment of the territory.
Over video images of masked militants carrying black coffins out of white vans in the darkness, the video carried a subtitled message in English, Arabic and Hebrew.
"Be prepared. Soon, your children will return in black coffins with their bodies torn apart by shrapnel from your army's missiles," the message warns.
Hamas's armed wing released a video on Saturday showing Alexander alive, in which he criticised the Israeli government for failing to secure his release.
Alexander appeared to be speaking under duress in the footage, making frequent hand gestures as he criticised Netanyahu's government.
AFP was unable to determine when the video was filmed.
Alexander was serving in an elite infantry unit on the Gaza border when he was abducted by Palestinian militants during their October 2023 attack.
The soldier, who turned 21 in captivity, was born in Tel Aviv and grew up in the US state of New Jersey, returning to Israel after high school to join the army.
GESTURE OF GOODWILL
Hamas said Monday it had received a new truce offer from Israel that foresees the release of 10 living hostages, starting with Alexander, in exchange for a 45-day ceasefire.
A Hamas official said the Israeli proposal called for Alexander's release on the first day of the ceasefire as a "gesture of goodwill".
It was delivered to the group's delegation in Cairo by Egyptian officials over the weekend and a senior Hamas official told AFP the group would "most likely" respond within 48 hours.
Another Hamas official said Israel had also demanded that the Palestinian militants disarm to secure an end to the Gaza war, but said this crossed a "red line".
Out of 251 hostages taken during Hamas's October 2023 attack, a total of 58 remain in captivity, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
French President Emmanuel Macron told Netanyahu in a telephone call Tuesday that only a ceasefire in Gaza could free the remaining hostages.
Saying the suffering of Gazan civilians "must end", he called for "opening all humanitarian aid crossings" into the Palestinian territory.
Israel has cut off all aid to the Gaza Strip since Mar 2 to pressure Hamas.
The United Nations has warned that Gaza's humanitarian crisis is spiralling out of control, with no aid having entered the territory for a month and a half.
"The humanitarian situation is now likely the worst it has been in the 18 months since the outbreak of hostilities," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
Macron angered Israel last week when he suggested Paris could recognise a Palestinian state during a United Nations conference in New York in June.
Netanyahu's office said he told Macron on Tuesday that the establishment of a Palestinian state would be a "huge reward for terrorism".
Sign up for our newsletters
Get our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inbox
Get the CNA app
Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories
Get WhatsApp alerts
Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app