One hostage held by Hamas in Gaza has been killed by the Hamas terrorist assigned to guard him, and another two female hostages have been seriously injured, the spokesperson of the Hamas armed wing, Abu Obeida, announced on Telegram on Monday.
The terrorist group stated that a committee was formed to investigate the incident and will announce the details later.
The IDF has reported that it does not have the intelligence support to confirm or deny the Hamas claims and will continue to inspect the reliability of the messages and uncover more information.
בדקות האחרונות הפיץ ארגון הטרור חמאס פרסום בטלגרם הכולל הודעה כתובה בה הוא טוען כי בשני אירועים נפרדים נהרג חטוף ונפצעו שתי חטופות ע״י פעילי חמאס.בשלב זה אין לנו כל תימוכין מודיעיני שמאפשר להפריך או לאושש את טענות החמאס. אנחנו ממשיכים לבדוק ולברר את אמינות ההודעה ונעדכן בהקדם…
— דובר צה״ל דניאל הגרי - Daniel Hagari (@IDFSpokesperson) August 12, 2024
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated in a confidential review before the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that "the number of hostages who are still alive within the humanitarian category is between 20 - 35, depending on the interpretation," KAN news reported on Monday evening.
Hostage talks
Hamas said on Sunday it had asked mediators to present a plan based upon past talks instead of engaging in new negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire deal and declined to attend the scheduled hostage ceasefire talks on Thursday.
Mediators have said that they are still working to hold the summit.
KAN News reported, citing sources involved in the negotiations, that this was a tactic to get Israel to back down from the additions it made to the outline.
Israel is concerned that the summit will need to be postponed or canceled due to an expected Iranian attack.
This is a developing story.