Hamas: Communication cut with two Israeli hostages
Shafaq News – Gaza
Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said Sunday that it had lost contact with two Israeli hostages in northern Gaza following heavy airstrikes on Gaza City.
In a statement, the group identified the hostages as Omri Miran and Metan Ingriest, noting that communication was severed during “intense military operations” in the Sabra and Tel al-Hawa neighborhoods. It warned that their lives were at “immediate risk,” urging Israeli forces to withdraw south of Street 8.
Al-Qassam also demanded a 24-hour halt to airstrikes in designated areas of Gaza City to prevent further danger to the captives.
The Israeli military maintains that 47 hostages remain in Gaza, 25 of them confirmed dead, out of 251 people taken during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, assault.
The statement came as a new wave of Israeli strikes killed at least 40 Palestinians across Gaza on Sunday, according to medical sources cited by Palestinian outlets. Strikes reportedly included Gaza City, Khan Younis, Wadi Gaza, and Deir al-Balah.
Since the war began, Israel has killed 66,005 Palestinians and injured 168,162 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
