Hamas said on Tuesday to have “lost contact”, after an Israeli strike in Gaza, with the group holding the Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, whose liberation would be planned in the last Israeli truce proposal.
At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed before his troops during a trip to the north of Gaza, that “Hamas will continue to suffer after the fact”.
After two months of truce, Israel took over on March 18, its air bombings followed by an earthly offensive in the Gaza Strip, where its army seeks to extend its control.
“We lost contact with the group holding soldier Edan Alexander after a bombing that targeted the place where they were and we continue to try them,” said Abou Obeida, spokesperson for the Hamas armed branch, the Ezzedine al-Qassam brigades, in a message on Telegram
It is the only living hostage with American nationality still retained in Gaza. Hamas broadcast a video of him on Saturday.
Truce proposal
The Ezzedine al-Qassam brigades then broadcast a video showing fighters carrying coffins. “Your leaders have signed the decision to execute the prisoners in Gaza,” it is written as a subtitle.
The announcement of Hamas intervened after one of its leaders had indicated Tuesday that the movement was “most likely” respond “within 48 hours” to an Israeli ceasefire proposal, involving a release of the hostages.
On Monday, another Hamas official said that Israel asked for the return of ten living hostages in exchange for a truce of “at least 45 days”, the release of a total of 1,231 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and an authorization to bring humanitarian aid into Gaza.
According to him, Israel demands “as a sign of good will” the return, on the first day of the agreement, of the hostage Edan Alexander, who was 21 years old in captivity.
According to this same official, speaking on condition of anonymity, the Israeli proposal also evokes a “permanent end to war” that Israel conditions the disarmament of Hamas, “a non -negotiable red line” for the movement.
Israel was not expressed on the content of this proposal.
51,000 dead in Gaza
According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, 10 Palestinians were killed during an air strike on an house belonging to the Hassouna family in the Al-Nafaq Street district, in the center of Gaza.
Three other civilians were killed in an Israeli strike on a home in the Al-Tuffah district, east of Gaza, according to the same sources.
In addition, heavy artillery fire was reported at night in the city of Abasan, east of Khan Younès, in the south of the Gaza Strip, according to local sources.
During a first strike, a drone attack targeted a tent to move west of Gaza-Ville, killing a Palestinian and injuring another.
A second strike hit an apartment near the Al-Saraya crossroads, in the center of Gaza-Ville, killing two people, including an elderly woman.
A third attack targeted a tent inside the Yarmouk stadium, which houses thousands of displaced families. Three Palestinians were killed there and seven others injured.
A truce, between January 19 and March 17, allowed the return to Israel of 33 hostages, including eight remains, in exchange for the release of around 1,800 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
On Tuesday, the Gaza Ministry of Health announced that at least 1,630 Palestinians had been killed since March 18, bringing the number of deaths to Gaza from the start 18 months ago, the devastating offensive of Israel to 51,000.
On Monday, the UN warned that the Gaza Strip was going “probably the worst” humanitarian situation since the start of the war, Israel blocking the entrance to all aid in the territory.
The small enclave where 2.4 million inappropriate inhabitants are piled up several times suffers from a shortage of food, water, fuels and other basic necessities, according to the UN humanitarian affairs office (OCHA).
