Hamas claims foiling Israeli attempt to free hostage in Gaza City

By Abdelsalam Fayez

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Palestinian resistance group Hamas said Monday that it had thwarted an Israeli attempt to free a hostage in Gaza City.

In a statement, the group’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said Israeli forces sneaked into a place in the Bureij refugee camp to free an Israeli hostage.

Hamas said that its fighters engaged in clashes with the Israeli forces, inflicting casualties among soldiers.

There was no comment yet from the Israeli army on the claim.

Hamas is believed to be holding nearly 136 Israeli hostages in the blockaded territory following its cross-border attack on Oct. 7.

Israel has launched air and ground attacks on the enclave since Oct. 7, killing at least 23,084 Palestinians and injuring 58,926 others, according to Gaza’s health authorities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.