Hamas announces the death of a hostage in Gaza at the hands of one of its terrorists

The Hamas terrorist group announced Monday that one of its members killed a hostage. Separately, at least two others were also reportedly wounded. This event, still to be clarified, is being investigated by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), who claim they cannot verify the Palestinian Islamist group's claims for the moment.

It was the spokesman of the terrorist group, Abu Obeida, who published a statement about the facts. According to the statement, there were two separate incidents. The hostage killed was a man and the wounded were two women. The statement did not identify the hostages involved with anymore detail.

Despite everything, Abu Obeida blamed the Israeli government for these incidents. "The enemy government [Israel] is fully responsible for these massacres and the resulting reactions affecting the lives of Zionist prisoners," Abu Obeida said.

This is the first time Hamas has reported such an attack, in which its guards killed hostages. The terrorist group has attributed previous hostage deaths often to Israeli attacks. Israel has generally dismissed Hamas' claims of hostage deaths, which it has framed as part of the terror group's psychological warfare and propaganda.

Some 111 hostages kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023 are estimated to remain in the Gaza Strip. In addition, there are the remains of 39 hostages killed in Gaza and with IDF confirmation. Some Israeli and U.S. intelligence reports warned that the number of living hostages could be far lower than estimated.