Hamas is "ready to conduct" an immediate release of all Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip in exchange for all Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli prisons, the terror group said in a statement attributed to Yahya Sinwar.
The IDF spokesperson, who was giving a daily briefing at the time of the statement, responded by suggesting that the timing of the statement was "psychological terror."
"We will continue to exhaust all options to bring them home."
The IDF spokesman also stated around that time that the official number of hostages in Gaza had risen to 230.
Hamas claimed earlier this week that 50 prisoners were killed in Israeli airstrikes, but offered no proof. The comments were made by Hamas's al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson, Abu Obaida, on the terrorist group's Telegram channel.
Israeli military, asked about Gaza coms blackout, says we do what needed to protect forces
Israel's chief military spokesperson declined to say whether Israel was behind the telecommunications blackout that hit Gaza on Friday and which has left the besieged enclave largely cut off but said it would do what it needed to protect its forces.
Asked whether Israel had knocked out cellular services at the start of the ground offensive that began on Friday night, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said:
"We do what we have to do to secure our forces for as long as we must, temporary or permanent, as much as we need to and we will not say anything further about that."