[1/2]A person holds photos during a demonstration demanding the immediate release of hostages held in Gaza who were captured in an October attack by Hamas militants, in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 4, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hochstein Obtaining licensing rights
CAIRO (Reuters) – The armed wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement said on Saturday that more than 60 hostages were missing due to Israeli air strikes on Gaza.
Late last month, Hamas said that an estimated 50 prisoners held by the movement were killed in Israeli raids on Gaza.
Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said on Hamas’s account on the Telegraph that 23 bodies out of 60 missing Israeli hostages were still trapped under the rubble.
He said, “It seems that we will never be able to reach them due to the occupation’s continuing brutal aggression against Gaza.”
Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity of the statement. The Israeli army refused to comment.
The United States is flying reconnaissance drones over Gaza in search of hostages taken by Hamas when the Palestinian movement attacked Israel on October 7, two US officials said on Thursday.
Hamas, the armed Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip, has so far released four civilians out of 239 believed to be detained.
(Reporting by Ahmed Tolba and writing by Hatem Maher – Preparing by Ahmed Tolba for the Arab Bulletin – Preparing by Hatem Maher) Editing by Emilia Sithole
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