Hamas said it had lost contact with an Israeli-American hostage in Gaza following an Israeli missile strike on the Palestinian territory.
Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old Israeli soldier from New Jersey, US, was captured during the October 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel. He appeared in a video released by the militant group over the weekend.
Abu Ubaida, spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades, said they lost contact with the fighters holding Mr Alexander after Israeli forces carried out a “direct strike” on the place where he was being held.
The spokesperson did not reveal the location.
“It seems that the occupation army is deliberately trying to kill him and, hence, relieve themselves from the pressure caused by the dual-citizen prisoners in order to continue its genocide against our people,” he said.
Hamas later published a video warning relatives of the Israeli hostages their children would “return in black coffins with their bodies torn apart from shrapnel from your army”.
The Palestinian group blamed Israel for the deaths of hostages in Gaza, including as a direct result of military operations.
It acknowledged, however, that at least one hostage was killed by a guard acting against instructions.
Israel has previously said it does not target places where it suspects hostages are being held. It said its forces would continue their operations in Gaza until the remaining 59 hostages – of the 251 captured during the 2023 attack – were freed.
US president Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, told reporters last month that securing the release of Mr Alexander, believed to be the last surviving Israeli-American held in Gaza, was a “top priority for us”.
The Tikva Forum, a group representing families of some of the captives, said on Tuesday that Mr Alexander was one of 10 hostages who could be released by Hamas if a new ceasefire was reached, citing a conversation a day earlier between prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the mother of another hostage.
Mr Alexander’s release was reportedly at the centre of talks that US hostage negotiator Adam Boehler held with Hamas last month.
Hamas released 38 captives during a ceasefire that came into effect on 19 January.
Israel resumed its military operations in March after the first phase of the ceasefire expired, and Hamas declined its proposal to extend the truce without ending the war.
This week, Hamas reportedly rejected a new Israeli proposal for a six-week truce. A Palestinian official told the BBC that the proposal did not mention ending the war nor Israeli troops leaving the territory.
